How to handle cyberbullying

AS many social events and work meetings go online under Covid-19 lockdown, Jane Linley-Thomas has shed some light on the best way to navigate your communication on digital platforms.

Speaking about the effects of lockdown, Lucy Cooke, Bidvest Insurance Marketing Manager, who said this period has pushed more people online.

“It’s the month of love, and we find ourselves in a very different world from where we were just 12 months ago. Lockdown has thrown us into the deep end of a new digital age, one which experts only expected to start seeing in 5 – 10 years from now. With the expediting of our immersion into technology it is even more imperative that we need to learn and adapt quickly to a whole host of new cyber threats and protect ourselves from them, which is not only limited to cybercrime,” she said.

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According to Linley-Thomas, one of these growing issues is cyberbullying. She explains that while it is not necessarily a ‘new’ form of bullying, it is one that has managed to increase its footprint in the new ‘real world’ / ‘digital world’ balance.

In an effort to tackle cyberbullying Linley-Thomas shared the following tips:

1. If you’ve got nothing good to say, then don’t post it.

“There seems to be a lack of accountability from behind a screen, which often leads to comment threads blowing up with remarks and comments that individuals would not normally say under ‘real world’ circumstances. Whether it’s a face-to-face interaction or one behind a screen, the age-old saying should still stand true – If you’ve got nothing nice to say, then don’t say anything.

2. We can’t read tone.

“There is a massive disconnect that happens online and that is because we can’t read tone. It is important to always take a step back before jumping to a reaction in the heat of the moment as we may be misinterpreting the communication. 

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3. Where is the love?

“I always say to my kids, the person that’s giving you the hardest time on the playground is the person who needs the love. It can be difficult to try and address a cyberbullying situation with kindness, especially when someone has you against the ropes, but there are instances where this holds true and you might actually be seeing or experiencing someone’s call for help,” said Linley-Thomas. 

4. Disconnect from the situation if things are getting out of hand

“If the conversations coming at you are just mean, then it’s time to be kind to yourself and disconnect from the source. Use the block button, leave the thread, untag yourself. There are some tools available to us to ‘turn off’ the interaction, because we shouldn’t have to waste our energy, especially in this day and age, in engaging and carrying around negativity, ” said Linley-Thomas.

Bidvest Insurance has developed a personal cyber insurance offering called Personal Cyber, that provides you with help when it comes to protecting you and your family from cases of cyberbullying, as well as another product called Cyber Rescue that provides vital cover to a range of other cyber threats such as cybercrime.

“The fact that there’s even a demand and need for a cyberbullying offering or insurance benefits like the ones Bidvest Insurance offers, just goes to show what it is we are dealing with and how our people are been treated,” added Linley-Thomas.