Social media enables people to avoid the interpersonal and nonverbal complexity of communication in a more complex face-to-face type of setting, according to Brent Yergensen, an associate professor of communications. “In a face-to-face setting, we must cater our message, we must consider the feelings of the other party. We must choose our words carefully, as well as our tone, because we don’t want to come across inappropriately.”
Yergensen said avoiding communicative responsibility comes in two ways. He said, “First, we get to avoiding having to communicate in a nonverbal way. Second, we can avoid caring about the nonverbal feedback that others will give us when we share hate.
“Social media hate is a shot into the dark, undeterred by what it might hit that is out there. It doesn’t have to care about collateral damage. It's empty in the creation of the message and empty in the care about its impact.”
Yergensen describe online hate as intellectually lazy. He said, “The more we know about a situation—whether it be a person, a historical event, etc., the less opinionated we are about it. The more we understand something, the more we realize how complex it is. So, strong opinions are often the result lack of understanding.”
“I think it comes from the special ability being online gives us,” said Stephanie Eldenberg, a sophomore from Sweden majoring in painting. “A bully does not have to be big and strong and the captain of the football team anymore. That only happens in cartoons. Bullies today come in all shapes and sizes.
“A bully could be anyone. A next-door neighbor, a sibling, or a 40 year-old man living in his mother’s basement. The internet, especially social media is a way of being hidden but having the ability to hurt someone.”
Sharing how the Internet encourages people to hate others for fun, Khristian Alfoja, a sophomore from the Philippines majoring in psychology said, “They can post whatever they want without violating any rules and regulations. They are all also far from physical threats and harassment if they posts hateful messages online.”
Elderberg explained Katie Price’s quest to end online trolling. “Price has a son named Harvey who is both autistic and partially blind. He was being harassed online so much that his mother went to the police but found out she could not charge the Internet trolls, because they were anonymous. So Price started a petition to end online trolling by making it a crime to do so.”
Alfoja believes self-reflection will help lessen hate and negativity online. He said, “Something that helped me was taking time to think of the consequences of my comments. I would think of how I would feel if I was being bullied. What would it lead to and how would it affect me as a person and my social relationship?
“I think if we could all do that, negativity and hate won’t be able grow and foster in social media. One quote I always keep in mind when I’m mad and about to say something mean is ‘if you can't be kind, be quiet.’”
Reei Temakei, a freshman from Kiribati majoring in biology, said cyber bullying is not commonplace in her country. She said, “It seems to be a product of the part of the world that is more developed and has had more time with the Internet.”
Temakei admitted that while she never considered Internet misuse a big deal in Kiribati, “The risks for cyber bullying are growing as more and more people get access to the Internet. So it could be a problem in my home one day.”
Temakei said the interned is capable of many good things as well. "It has the ability to draw families closer together, like through social media and Facetime. But there is also a danger. Like all great power, it can be used for evil things, like bullying and pornography.”
Writer: Elijah Hadley