In an era where social media plays an integral part in an individual's life, there are a lot of instances where invasion into others' privacy is a common sight.
Be it sending offensive personal messages or leaving an obscene comment or meme on one's picture. Many people in the city have fallen prey to cyber bullying. Though most of them have started coming up and making the public aware of these miscreants, there are still others who are not confident enough to speak up.
Greshma Dhanarajan, a city-based fashion designer, says that it is important to bring to light such issues if it becomes intolerable or tries to harm one's self-esteem. According to her personal experience, she looks at these delinquents in three ways — strangers, partial strangers and acquaintances. "Strangers are those who know nothing about a person but still try to befriend them and get obsessed with them. They get agitated when they are rejected and that's when all kinds of messages start. The second kind is those who have heard about someone and want to know more about them. This kind of people don't understand the word 'no' or 'not interested'. And unfortunately, there are even acquaintances who suddenly turn rogue," she explains.
The worst kind of cyber bullying that she faced was from a person who knew her from her hometown and was aware of some of her personal life experiences. He started harassing her by continuously calling her and then started sending her threatening messages on Facebook once she changed her number. Shebelieves that shaming and exposing these people publicly can curtail their power to bully or invade other people's privacy.
"After the horrible incident, I went to a lawyer friend of mine to ask what best I could do legally. And if you have a well-wisher, they can be of absolute help on what to do. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who avoid taking this step as they worry about their family and parents' respect," points out Greshma.
Being on a platform that is easily accessible to people from around the world, it is also extremely important for everyone, as social media users, to be careful and have control on what kind of information they are sharing with the public. Shraddha V, a student of Mount Carmel College, says there is a 'power of anonymity' on social media platforms. There are people who have fake profiles so they can get access to other people's privacy. "About two to three times, I have received messages from unknown people commenting on my profile picture or simply trying to make conversations about different things. I am very particular about not replying to them or encouraging any sort of conversation. The easiest way is to block them; this way, they can't access my profile in future," says Shraddha. She highlights that if a person is posing a serious threat to one's image, people can also shame them publicly by publishing the conversation on their page. This is to create more awareness about that particular person.
Being prey to perhaps the worst kind of cyber bullying is Shrutika Shukla, a law student, who confided in her parents and was encouraged to overcome the situation. She recalls the grim experience and says, "I was 13 years old when I became a victim of cyberbullying. There was a boy in my class who, along with his friends, created a group on social media and started spreading false information about me. That tarnished my image and at a tender age like that, it was too much to take. And he did that because I had rejected his proposal."
The worst thing that followed, she says, was other students forming an opinion about her after reading their comments which she wasn't even aware of. It was then that she told her parents and they brought this issue to her school principal's notice. Though the boys were punished, it left a deep scar in Shrutika's mind. "Thanks to the therapist and my parents who helped me overcome it."
![]( "More and more people are coming out with their unpleasant experiences online.")
In an era where social media plays an integral part in an individual’s life, there are a lot of instances where invasion into others’ privacy is a common sight.
Be it sending offensive personal messages or leaving an obscene comment or meme on one’s picture. Many people in the city have fallen prey to cyber bullying. Though most of them have started coming up and making the public aware of these miscreants, there are still others who are not confident enough to speak up.
Greshma Dhanarajan, a city-based fashion designer, says that it is important to bring to light such issues if it becomes intolerable or tries to harm one’s self-esteem. According to her personal experience, she looks at these delinquents in three ways — strangers, partial strangers and acquaintances. "Strangers are those who know nothing about a person but still try to befriend them and get obsessed with them. They get agitated when they are rejected and that’s when all kinds of messages start. The second kind is those who have heard about someone and want to know more about them. This kind of people don’t understand the word 'no’ or 'not interested’. And unfortunately, there are even acquaintances who suddenly turn rogue,” she explains.
The worst kind of cyber bullying that she faced was from a person who knew her from her hometown and was aware of some of her personal life experiences. He started harassing her by continuously calling her and then started sending her threatening messages on Facebook once she changed her number. She believes that shaming and exposing these people publicly can curtail their power to bully or invade other people’s privacy.
"After the horrible incident, I went to a lawyer friend of mine to ask what best I could do legally. And if you have a well-wisher, they can be of absolute help on what to do. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who avoid taking this step as they worry about their family and parents’ respect,” points out Greshma.
Being on a platform that is easily accessible to people from around the world, it is also extremely important for everyone, as social media users, to be careful and have control on what kind of information they are sharing with the public. Shraddha V, a student of Mount Carmel College, says there is a 'power of anonymity’ on social media platforms. There are people who have fake profiles so they can get access to other people’s privacy. "About two to three times, I have received messages from unknown people commenting on my profile picture or simply trying to make conversations about different things. I am very particular about not replying to them or encouraging any sort of conversation. The easiest way is to block them; this way, they can’t access my profile in future,” says Shraddha. She highlights that if a person is posing a serious threat to one’s image, people can also shame them publicly by publishing the conversation on their page. This is to create more awareness about that particular person.
Being prey to perhaps the worst kind of cyber bullying is Shrutika Shukla, a law student, who confided in her parents and was encouraged to overcome the situation. She recalls the grim experience and says, "I was 13 years old when I became a victim of cyberbullying. There was a boy in my class who, along with his friends, created a group on social media and started spreading false information about me. That tarnished my image and at a tender age like that, it was too much to take. And he did that because I had rejected his proposal.”
The worst thing that followed, she says, was other students forming an opinion about her after reading their comments which she wasn’t even aware of. It was then that she told her parents and they brought this issue to her school principal’s notice. Though the boys were punished, it left a deep scar in Shrutika’s mind. "Thanks to the therapist and my parents who helped me overcome it.”
Be it sending offensive personal messages or leaving an obscene comment or meme on one's picture. Many people in the city have fallen prey to cyber bullying. Though most of them have started coming up and making the public aware of these miscreants, there are still others who are not confident enough to speak up.
Greshma Dhanarajan, a city-based fashion designer, says that it is important to bring to light such issues if it becomes intolerable or tries to harm one's self-esteem. According to her personal experience, she looks at these delinquents in three ways — strangers, partial strangers and acquaintances. "Strangers are those who know nothing about a person but still try to befriend them and get obsessed with them. They get agitated when they are rejected and that's when all kinds of messages start. The second kind is those who have heard about someone and want to know more about them. This kind of people don't understand the word 'no' or 'not interested'. And unfortunately, there are even acquaintances who suddenly turn rogue," she explains.
The worst kind of cyber bullying that she faced was from a person who knew her from her hometown and was aware of some of her personal life experiences. He started harassing her by continuously calling her and then started sending her threatening messages on Facebook once she changed her number. Shebelieves that shaming and exposing these people publicly can curtail their power to bully or invade other people's privacy.
"After the horrible incident, I went to a lawyer friend of mine to ask what best I could do legally. And if you have a well-wisher, they can be of absolute help on what to do. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who avoid taking this step as they worry about their family and parents' respect," points out Greshma.
Being on a platform that is easily accessible to people from around the world, it is also extremely important for everyone, as social media users, to be careful and have control on what kind of information they are sharing with the public. Shraddha V, a student of Mount Carmel College, says there is a 'power of anonymity' on social media platforms. There are people who have fake profiles so they can get access to other people's privacy. "About two to three times, I have received messages from unknown people commenting on my profile picture or simply trying to make conversations about different things. I am very particular about not replying to them or encouraging any sort of conversation. The easiest way is to block them; this way, they can't access my profile in future," says Shraddha. She highlights that if a person is posing a serious threat to one's image, people can also shame them publicly by publishing the conversation on their page. This is to create more awareness about that particular person.
Being prey to perhaps the worst kind of cyber bullying is Shrutika Shukla, a law student, who confided in her parents and was encouraged to overcome the situation. She recalls the grim experience and says, "I was 13 years old when I became a victim of cyberbullying. There was a boy in my class who, along with his friends, created a group on social media and started spreading false information about me. That tarnished my image and at a tender age like that, it was too much to take. And he did that because I had rejected his proposal."
The worst thing that followed, she says, was other students forming an opinion about her after reading their comments which she wasn't even aware of. It was then that she told her parents and they brought this issue to her school principal's notice. Though the boys were punished, it left a deep scar in Shrutika's mind. "Thanks to the therapist and my parents who helped me overcome it."
In an era where social media plays an integral part in an individual’s life, there are a lot of instances where invasion into others’ privacy is a common sight.Be it sending offensive personal messages or leaving an obscene comment or meme on one’s picture. Many people in the city have fallen prey to cyber bullying. Though most of them have started coming up and making the public aware of these miscreants, there are still others who are not confident enough to speak up.
Greshma Dhanarajan, a city-based fashion designer, says that it is important to bring to light such issues if it becomes intolerable or tries to harm one’s self-esteem. According to her personal experience, she looks at these delinquents in three ways — strangers, partial strangers and acquaintances. "Strangers are those who know nothing about a person but still try to befriend them and get obsessed with them. They get agitated when they are rejected and that’s when all kinds of messages start. The second kind is those who have heard about someone and want to know more about them. This kind of people don’t understand the word 'no’ or 'not interested’. And unfortunately, there are even acquaintances who suddenly turn rogue,” she explains.
The worst kind of cyber bullying that she faced was from a person who knew her from her hometown and was aware of some of her personal life experiences. He started harassing her by continuously calling her and then started sending her threatening messages on Facebook once she changed her number. She believes that shaming and exposing these people publicly can curtail their power to bully or invade other people’s privacy.
"After the horrible incident, I went to a lawyer friend of mine to ask what best I could do legally. And if you have a well-wisher, they can be of absolute help on what to do. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who avoid taking this step as they worry about their family and parents’ respect,” points out Greshma.
Being on a platform that is easily accessible to people from around the world, it is also extremely important for everyone, as social media users, to be careful and have control on what kind of information they are sharing with the public. Shraddha V, a student of Mount Carmel College, says there is a 'power of anonymity’ on social media platforms. There are people who have fake profiles so they can get access to other people’s privacy. "About two to three times, I have received messages from unknown people commenting on my profile picture or simply trying to make conversations about different things. I am very particular about not replying to them or encouraging any sort of conversation. The easiest way is to block them; this way, they can’t access my profile in future,” says Shraddha. She highlights that if a person is posing a serious threat to one’s image, people can also shame them publicly by publishing the conversation on their page. This is to create more awareness about that particular person.
Being prey to perhaps the worst kind of cyber bullying is Shrutika Shukla, a law student, who confided in her parents and was encouraged to overcome the situation. She recalls the grim experience and says, "I was 13 years old when I became a victim of cyberbullying. There was a boy in my class who, along with his friends, created a group on social media and started spreading false information about me. That tarnished my image and at a tender age like that, it was too much to take. And he did that because I had rejected his proposal.”
The worst thing that followed, she says, was other students forming an opinion about her after reading their comments which she wasn’t even aware of. It was then that she told her parents and they brought this issue to her school principal’s notice. Though the boys were punished, it left a deep scar in Shrutika’s mind. "Thanks to the therapist and my parents who helped me overcome it.”