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The Issue of Cyberbullying in Cyberculture.

In my previous blog, I highlighted the definition of cyberculture where technology is fused in our everyday lives (Bell, 2001). The internet therefore makes this possible and different cultures, ideas and perceptions are shared through social media and other platforms. There are several issues however, that come as a result of cyberculture. I made mention of the issue of identity in my blog, where societal views help to shape how one perceives themself and others.

Another issue observed in the Caribbean is the issue of ‘Cyberbullying’. “Over 80% of teens use a cell phone regularly, making it the most popular form of technology and a common medium of cyberbullying” (Cyber Bullying Statistics, 2015). According to a definition given by Margaret Rouse (2015), she believes that this is the use of cell phones, instant messaging, email, chat rooms or social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to harass, threaten or intimidate someone. Cyberbullying as stated in the gleaner, is the “ugly side of technology” (The Gleaner, 2015). Irrefutably, not only the millennials are affected by such however, they are impacted more. A possible reason for this could be linked to the fact that in this era, even kids from ages 7 are given smartphones. (PA Media, 2020). Evidence has also been seen where kids younger than 7 have phones. On the media, everyone has a particular audience they cater to and in doing so, they try to ensure that they feed this audience with content to keep ‘popular’, known or followed on the media. This issue has been in existence for a while in the ‘internet world’, right across the globe. Narrowing this landscape to the Caribbean however, there are many from this region who’ve felt the impact of bullying over the internet. Principals from different Caribbean countries even came together at a meeting discussing cyberbullying and it was therefore said that all the countries that were present, were faced with the issue at their different schools (The Gleaner, 2015). In essence, this isn’t foreign to anyone and is merely our reality, with “over half of teens being victims of cyberbullying” (Cyber Bullying Statistics, 2015).

A famous way of cyber bullying is the spreading of rumors on someone on-line, which many have been experiencing. When telling news or writing news articles for instance, you have to ensure that the content is newsworthy, to attract the attention of your audience and ensure that the content is interesting. This is the same case with persons using social media. They post content that will capture their audience and in doing this often times it doesn't matter to them if it affects a person, negatively. Rumor has to do with circulating information even though uncertain about the genuineness of such. The Prime Minister of Trinidad was a victim of this. Mr. Keith Rowley had to declare to the public that he was in good health and still competent enough to run the country due to contradictory comments made on social media by a citizen (Karim, 2017). As a leader of a country, it is of paramount importance that the citizens know he or she is capable of carrying out the tasks of their post however, with the issue of rumors this may pose a problem. Some might dislike the leader or his way of doing a particular thing and such, seek to tarnish his/her reputation or undermine one’s competence and so on, as was seen in the prime minister’s situation. In another instance, in Jamaica, well-known artist called ‘Shenseea’, was also a victim of cyber bullying. There were followers and vise versa who ‘dragged’ her name saying that she has been sleeping with producers and so on, which is the reason she has sprung to the top so quickly, in the music industry. The most common rumor as she claimed is the fact that she was accused of sleeping with ‘Romeich’. Due to this she turned to Instagram and posted this:

Another way cyberbullying can occur is through ‘sexting’. This would occur if a person decides to send “sexually explicit messages, photos or videos via cell phone, computer on any digital device” (Matte, 2020). Many have been victims to this and it has been observed to result in embarrassment. There are several instances where females would send their boyfriend a nude picture or video for instance, and with the mentality that some men have, they would want to publicize the girl’s privacy. This often happens just for the hype and ‘fun’. Around in 2018, I had a friend who made the wrong decision in the partner she chose. As a result, he took advantage of her by having sexual intercourse with her, videoing it then forwarding it to his friends. It is very easy for content like those to be circulated as such, in less than a day the video was posted on a page on Instagram that had thousands of followers. My friend was humiliated, scared, cursed and mentally disturbed as a result. Comments such as, ‘she’s a slut’, ‘bitch’, ‘she ain’t sh*t’ and a host of other derogatory comments were stated. Persons even found out her Instagram handle and reached out to her, continuing the slaughter. Unfortunately, she attempted to take her life multiple times because she felt as though she just couldn’t handle all that has been happening. This therefore leads to my next point on this issue, which is the impacts of cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying affect victims both physically and psychologically. In the case of the scenario given previously, it clearly highlighted a mental impact that resulted in my friend’s case. Unfortunately, nothing is ever erased from the Internet. As such, if a photo, video or any other forms of suggestive content is circulated, even after it dies down, the possibility exists that it will resurface. This causes things like “anxiety, depression and even suicide” (Cyber bullying Statistics, 2015).

This issue will always be a part of our reality, once technology exists. However, there are different measures that can be put in place to reduce or prevent the number of victims of cyberbullying. Parents have a responsible to play in this. A relationship should be built with your child, in a way where they can relay certain information to you and issues such as these should be spoken about. There are several other prevention strategies that could be employed however, it is of paramount importance that the millennials are meticulous when using their devices. Not only this, but careful with the type of influences or peers around them, as many fall victim of cyberbullying because of bad influences. Mental and physical health should be protected at all costs, as we all continue to fight and live with and around this bully.

References

Bell, D. (2001). An introduction to cybercultures. London: Routledge.

Cyber Bullying Statistics. (2015, July 07). Retrieved November 07, 2020, from http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/cyber-bullying-statistics.html

Karim, A. (2017, April 12). Trinidad PM says idiot spreading rumours about him on social media. Retrieved November 07, 2020, from https://www.caribbeannationalweekly.com/news/trinidad-pm-says-idiot-spreading-rumours-social-media/

PA Media. (2020, January 29). Most children own mobile phone by age of seven, study finds. Retrieved November 07, 2020, from https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/society/2020/jan/30/most-children-own-mobile-phone-by-age-of-seven-study-finds

The Gleaner. (2015, August 02). Cyberbullies strike in schools. Retrieved November 07, 2020, from http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20150802/cyberbullies-strike-schools

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‘Cyberculture and Identity crisis in the Caribbean’.

With over 7 billion humans on earth, the use of technology has been a medium through which communication takes place. A person at say Ireland for instance, can communicate with another in Jamaica, which is made possible through the internet. When interaction takes place, there's a presence of attitudes and behaviour expressed differently and sometimes similar in various regions. These influences are shared through the world of computers and the internet, where technology is fused in our everyday lives (Bell, 2001). This is called ‘cyberculture’. The sharing of different cultural practices and ideas over the internet therefore takes place as a result of globalized connectedness. The process of Globalization has been a-part of our lives for many years and because of such, interactions are increasing and, in my opinion, inevitable for cultural practices and just mere standards set out by superiors, to be passed on through the use of the internet.

Cyberculture has numerous of benefits to us. However, as knowledge increases, more and more persons utilize the internet to manipulate and control users of such. With reference to the Caribbean, there are several issues that arise in the world of technology like well known ones such as cyberbullying, scamming and so on. However, my focus is on the ‘identity crisis’ observed, which is a terminology used by several writers.  

I admire the content of Curwen Best’s book on the politics of Caribbean Cyberculture, as it highlights various issues related to cyberculture in the Caribbean. As Best exerts, there is an emergence of ‘certain patterns of control and ownership of technologies’ (Best, 2016). I couldn’t agree more. A lot of the prescribed standards of living displayed over the internet that us in the Caribbean even live by, is as a result of many influences from the US. Even though the aim of this blog isn’t to center it’s focus on the US, it’s almost inevitable to avoid mentioning the state that controls so many things we do and, in this context, controls the way the internet is used. With the Caribbean being less dominant, we certainly are forced to accept such livity or what I would phrase as the ‘way of life of the internet’.

With focus being projected on the Caribbean, Jamaica specifically, females tend to make known to the public, private matters. These days a female may post on twitter that she’s in need of sex and want to hook up with someone, randomly. These way of expression are often not overlooked because the idea of being open/free when posting, attracts different demography and as time and the different cultures and sub-cultures on the internet start to evolve, things such as the culture of what I would consider to be ‘eroticism’ in women are more acceptable and arguably, encouraged. Well-known artistes in the country tend to include their views of such in their songs. This forces me to believe that the different influences on social media and so on, drives some females to even show a side of them on social media that isn’t true. Hence, the issue of false identity being displayed and sold to the public for reposts, retweets and so on, with the aim of just garnering attention and ultimately ‘the hype’, is a soaring issue in the Caribbean. This leads to females compromising their true identity and taking on what I’d call a ‘fake persona’, just to please the public. Funny enough, many artistes who produce songs which promote a certain lifestyle, though being such a big influence through their songs, are not who they say they are in them. Hence, many are being misled.

Still on the matter of identity, the societal views globally of how beauty should be perceived, contributes greatly to how individuals perceive themselves. I am in strong agreement with an article written by a few authors, which tackled the controversies of self from ethics to cyber terror. They believe that the constructions of identity have suffered enormous technological acceleration influence (Azevedo, 2015). Gone are the days that people would worry less about how they look. The internet is flooded with so many views of how a female should look and people are often forced to utilize resources that will cause them to look how many on the internet are looking these days. What do I mean by this? Let us take into consideration, apps that have been created to ‘enhance beauty’, as some call it. There are tons of filters on snapchat, instagram and so on, which gives the options to change certain features in your look. This ‘internet look’ often takes away from showing the public how one looks in reality. I would even talk to persons and they would express their dire need or the importance of using filters on their pictures because without it, they would look ‘ugly’. People tend to let influences of the media determine or dictate what you should and shouldn’t consider to be pretty or ugly. However, this is just our reality. We will constantly be greatly influenced in the Caribbean where this issue is concerned, once technology exists, which I believe is until this earth comes to an end.

A lot of reputations have been tarnished as a result of the fact that nothing is ever erased off the internet. Mr. Langmia made mention in his book that online communication has caused private posts whether it be images, videos, texts and so on, when posted or sent through airwaves, can never be deleted because the reality is, someone will still have a copy of such information. In other words, nothing is private anymore. ‘It’s all on the net’. Popular dancehall artiste Vybz Kartel, was even convicted for murder in 2011 and it was his own messages and voice-notes that he sent, which contributed to him being found guilty. Due to issues such as this, individuals often anonymously post stuff, to avoid their information from being compromised.

The last point I want to raise is that artistes such as ‘beenie man’, ‘kartel’ and other influential celebrities in Jamaica have songs that promote bleaching and also an idea of how a girl should look. In beenie man’s song called ‘offshore’, he endorses bleaching and plastic surgery along with kartel in his song called ‘do di maths’, exerting that a female should have tall hair vs low hair which isn’t attractive to him. He even spoke about having a woman that looks like ‘Yendi Phillips’ and having a body like that of ‘Miss kitty’. With these songs being marketed and trending on the internet, having the high influence that kartel has on the younger demography, females may seek to look according to the prescribed ways publicized in these songs. Men on the other hand, want to be in the hype hence, they will seek to try bleaching and so on, just so they can live up to the standards that are set by the public.

    Sources

Azevedo, Jefferson Cabral, Istoe, Rosalee Santos, Souza, Carlos Henrique Medeiros, & Marques, Bruna Moraes. (2015). THE CONTROVERSIES OF SELF – FROM (INFO)ETHICS TO CYBER TERROR. JISTEM - Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, 12(3), 577-594. https://doi.org/10.4301/S1807-17752015000300005

Bell, D. (2001). An introduction to cybercultures. London: Routledge.

Best, C. (2016). Politics of caribbean cyberculture. Place of publication not identified: Palgrave Macmillan.

Langmia, K. (n.d.). Cyberculture and Identity. Retrieved November 29, 2016, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311786728_Cyberculture_and_Identity

Marques, Bruna Moraes. (2015). THE CONTROVERSIES OF SELF – FROM (INFO)ETHICS TO CYBER TERROR. JISTEM - Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, 12(3), 577-594. https://doi.org/10.4301/S1807-17752015000300005