CYBERBULLYING: WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF DEATH

 

Social media has made it easy for people to communicate freely with their families, colleagues, clients, business partners and friends. Gone are the days where people had to wait for days, weeks or even months to hear from their loved ones but through the use of social media the globe is in our hands now. People get to see what is happening at different part of the world without necessarily being present. It has also become a platform where communication, networking and business deals have become very effective.

 

At the same time, social media has also exposed its dark side where people now feel that a reel or heavily photoshopped picture is classified as the reality. This has become a major problem around the world and has intensified people engaging in unhealthy competition as to living a fake life to impress the society at large.

 

However, the lives of many women are at risk as most of them are personally attacked online for living their own lives. Whether it’s about an upcoming project, their daily lifestyle, or their beauty it seems social media has paved way for most hungry predators who hide behind fake accounts to attack them whether she is a public figure or an ordinary person living a normal life. It looks like opinions don’t matter anymore instead it is clouded with insults, attacks as far as threats.

 

This is popularly known as Cyberbullying. There are many form of bullying and cyberbullying is gradually making a hit list in our digital spaces that is causing lives to be lost.

 

Cyberbullying is a form of bullying that occurs on digital spaces. It can be a form of a text message, social media, gaming and forums. This can go as far as sending, posting or sharing negative, harmful, false content about someone else to damage their reputation or cause public embarrassment.

 

The common places where cyberbullying occurs can be direct messaging, online chatting, Electronic mail and others but recent analysis proves that cyberbullying often happens on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tiktok.

 

In an article written by Melissa Davey titled “Online Violence against women ‘flourishing’ and most common on Facebook survey finds” She wrote that in more than 20 countries, more girls and women were exposed to explicit messages, pornographic photos, cyberstalking and other forms of internet abuse. This has resulted in mental and emotional distress in many young women. However, these women who are subjected to these attacks also belong to a marginalized group in a community.

 

What causes an individual to abuse another online might be based on several reasons. The following may include;

 

Envy

Since social media is now accessible to everyone, it has become easier for certain people to attack women online based on flaunting of luxurious lifestyle, which most people can’t afford such lifestyle. Therefore, the success of most independent women who are doing well for themselves always comes into question. What did they actually do to become successful? Is it their intelligence, knowledge or effort? and at times the answers to a woman’s success is often aligned with sex. Bullies intend to create a different account to attack such women who have done nothing wrong but improved their life.

 

Low Self Esteem

People who need validation and a sense of gratification from followers online just for the likes, comments and following have immense their self in loosing self confidence. Instead of posting something better and realizing their full potential, there is always a reliance on their audience to get that sense of gratification. When that is not consistent, it results in low self esteem making them attacking their fellow. Most at times, such people spew rumours, lies and insults about public figures just to trend.

 

Anxiety

Anxieties have caused many to attack women on social media. In Africa, when a woman is successful, it is unusual for society to praise them for their effort unlike men. It is either their level of success was made out of sleeping with men or luring men into their dirty schemes. People who face anxiety, feeling that they have missed out in life, may often hide behind fake accounts calling women all sorts of names which affects the victims mental health.

 

The causes are countless but what we often overlook are the victims involved in cyberbullying. The kind of challenges they face when involved in such messy situation. Not too long ago, a Ghanaian journalist encountered cyberbullying and most bloggers used their platforms to write about the story. A ghost blogger who decided to open a Snapchat account decided to spew irrelevant facts to tarnish the image of an individual. What was the authenticity of the stories shared on the snapchat account? Was it newsworthy for the public? How much damage was done to the victim and what were the measures put in place to prevent similar situations?

 

I am hoping that women who have been victimized on social media will create a huge table to accommodate most young girls and teach them on how to support each other when such incidents occur.

 

In my next blog post, I will be highlighting about the effects of cyberbullying and the solutions that might be put in place to help young generations to deal with cyberbullying.