This month is National Bullying Prevention Month and we wanted to acknowledge that with some thoughts on bullying and what to do about it. We will focus on cyberbullying, as we are all online, although in-person bullying is also important and is sometimes combined with cyberbullying
Cyberbullying involves using digital technology to repeatedly attack someone. For example, the bully might send offensive DMs to you or about you. Or they might send floods of nasty text messages, or write offensive discussion posts about you. Even wikis have the potential to be used for bullying - for example by making an offensive new wiki about you, or posting embarrassing pictures. The key element is the intention to hurt you.
Not all unpleasant interactions are bullying - for example, disagreeing with you, blocking you, calling out your bad behavior (intentional or not), are generally not bullying. Bullying is usually defined as something that usually (but not always) happens to young people and happens where the bullies have the advantage of being seen as more "powerful" than the person bullied. For example, they might be more popular or respected, or be an admin, or know more about the site and how to use it.
Why is cyberbullying different?[]
Cyberbullying can be harder to recognize than physical bullying, and it's not always taken seriously, but in some ways it may be worse than in-person bullying. The internet is on all the time, so bullies can attack outside of school or work hours, making it difficult to avoid. Bullies can be anonymous online, so you don't know who is bullying and can't easily ensure there are consequences for it. It's also possible to impersonate someone online, and that can lead to the bullied person being mistakenly blamed for problem content.
Cyberbullying has the potential to be seen by more people than traditional bullying, and it may be difficult to remove online. Remember, pictures or information you give out online could be used by a bully and be on the Internet for a long time. Never give out personal information or share photos - especially intimate ones!
Bullying on Fandom.[]
Yes, it happens here, just as it can on any site that allows interaction between people. Of course, bullying is not permitted by Fandom's Terms of Use and our Community Guidelines.
On Fandom bullying might involve:
- Admin actions against someone who is not behaving badly.
- Changing posts to make it look like someone is making inappropriate comments.
- Reverting all edits (when not problem edits).
- Following a user from wiki to wiki.
- Dogpiling - gathering friends to all gang up on one person in a thread.
- Doxxing - giving out personal information such as an email address or phone number.
- Leaving hateful, discriminatory, or attacking comments.
- Spreading images of someone without their permission and making fun of them.
- Hateful jokes.
- Making cruel polls.
This might look like a scary list, but we know that most people are good and care about what happens on Fandom, so won't do any of these things.
What you can do?[]
Contributors.[]
We can all do something about bullying. You can:
- Speak up to say the bullying is wrong.
- Reassure the victim that you understand their problems and that you disagree with the bully
- Report the problem to the moderators and staff of the site, with links and screenshots to show what's happening.
- And most of all, be kind
For more on how you can stand up to bullies see Stop-bullying.org's page about bystanders.
Admins.[]
- If as admin you need to take action about bullying on a wiki, be sure that you are doing so fairly and even handedly.
- If you need to ban, explain to the user why you are banning (except in cases such as blatant vandalism).
- Watch out for people impersonating a victim - for example, posting offensive posts using a username almost identical to the victim's.
- Be aware of the atmosphere of the wiki, try to move people into a better and kinder space.
- Be an example of good behavior.
If you are bullied.[]
If you are being bullied online, the first thing to do is ignore their provocation. This can be VERY hard to do. We all want to respond when something nasty is said about us. But it's a technique that really can work. There's no "fun" in bullying if you can't get a reaction.
It's very important not to give out personal information. Even to good friends. If something happens and the information is shared, it can't be taken back! This is especially true of pictures.
It can also be helpful to collect evidence. On Fandom it's important to record links to problem material, these are much better than taking screenshots. Staff can often see a deleted post, and it's a more reliable way to preserve evidence.
If the bullying is repeated, report it. First to a local admin and, if necessary, to Fandom staff. If you are a teen you should also talk to a trusted adult to get their help.
If the bullying becomes severe, consider going to the police. In the US, all states have anti-bullying laws, and most (44) include cyberbullying in those laws. If you are in the US, see more about your state's laws here.
Kindness.[]
You could say that the opposite of bullying is kindness, so we are looking for the kind people of Fandom. Do you know someone on Fandom who is kind to new and established contributors? Maybe an admin who is always gentle and willing to be there for other users? Please tell us about them in the comments below.
Resources.[]
Articles.[]
https://youth.gov/feature-article/national-bullying-prevention-month More on National Bullying prevention Month. https://cyberbullying.org/ - Statistics and information about cyberbullying in the US https://www.ditchthelabel.org/bullying-101 - The facts about cyberbullying. https://www.ditchthelabel.org/report-bullying-options/ - How to report bullying.
Video.[]
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuxT6Ef3SEzgmIHDnuz8W1aMwf8oGlqsV - Videos from Stop Bullying.gov on YouTube. https://www.ditchthelabel.org/9-tips-on-overcoming-cyberbullying - Tips on overcoming cyberbullying. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_nYzMgSMc0 - It's Not About Me. A video about not taking the blame for bullying.
Contacts.[]
https://www.stompoutbullying.org/helpchat - Chat support for 13-24 year olds. Available Tuesday 7:00PM - 12:00AM EST and Wednesday 8:00PM - 12:00AM EST. https://forums.ditchthelabel.org/ - A moderated support forum. https://988lifeline.org/ - The Suicide and Crisis Lifeline] - Call: 988 from the US. https://community.fandom.com/wiki/Help:Suicide_Prevention_Resources - Fandom's suicide prevention resources page. Including international resources.
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