Originally Posted by DrPhil (Post 1993977)

Thanks for that summary. :)

Originally Posted by Alumiyum (Post 1993975)

If her name and some other identifying information (last name, residence, sorority...something that would make it clear who the girl in question is), that's no different than posting her phone number. It's still cyberbullying.

Originally Posted by Alumiyum (Post 1993975)

She'll have that follow her, and her potential employers will see it, her family will see it...etc. The internet is a part of our lives whether we like it or not, and when it effects real life (like the job example), that's over the line. I think the problem is a combination of people not understanding the impact it will have (especially for teens and younger kids), not caring, and not facing repercussions. I do hope we get better protection legally from this sort of behavior soon. That might help deter the "I don't care" set from spreading their horribleness.

Originally Posted by agzg (Post 1993971)

I don't like it when people bring this up. Obviously there's some false reporting going on with any crime. The problem is, the number of cases that are reported and have actually happened (and subsequently are dismissed for lack of evidence) far far outweigh the number of false reports.

Also, it should be pointed out that many many of the cases that get dismissed in rape are not dismissed because it was proven that it didn't happen - it's just really easy to blame the victim and not be able to prove that it did happen.

I'm a firm believer that all rape cases should be taken seriously, particularly due to the sheer number of rape cases that go unreported and how very hard it is to come forward (even when police do have strong evidence of rape many times the victim does not want to come forward for many different reasons).

There was a workshop on my campus one year while I was in undergrad that reported that 1 in 4 women has been raped - I'll need to look and see if I can find where they got that.

This doesn't even get into cases of the rape of men, which is an even more seriously under-reported crime.

Rape isn't about sex, it's about power (so is bullying and cyberbullying). By letting false reports outweigh (in our mind) actual legitimate cases of rape, we're giving rapists even more power.

Originally Posted by agzg (Post 1993980)

It's still cyberbullying, but it's like that blurry/fuzzy line between freedom of speech and hate speech. A defendant may be able to slip under the line of "freedom of speech" with your example. With mine, their first amendment defense isn't quite so strong (because it can be construed as inciting a particular course of action).



Of course it's over the line if it affects real life. But, there is a difference between affecting someone's job prospects and giving people the tools and incentive to commit other various criminal activities.

Originally Posted by Alumiyum (Post 1993982)

Not if it's libel, though the problem is that Suzy probably doesn't have the money or resources to bring a civil suit and have this crap removed. Affecting job prospects is stepping into real life, period. And the first amendment doesn't protect one from printing/saying untrue things to cause harm.

Originally Posted by agzg (Post 1993984)

Well, there's also a difference between a civil case and a criminal case. So, varying degrees of a problem - the seed is the same (bullying).

As an aside, bullying of all natures is a seriously under-reported occurance, as well.

Originally Posted by agzg (Post 1993984)

Well, there's also a difference between a civil case and a criminal case. So, varying degrees of a problem - the seed is the same (bullying).

As an aside, bullying of all natures is a seriously under-reported occurance, as well.

Originally Posted by DrPhil (Post 1994084)

On that note, are gossip columnists bullies?

Originally Posted by DrPhil (Post 1994084)

Perez Hilton says he will stop bullying.

http://wonderwall.msn.com/#wallState...-1577682.story

He really is a bully because he has become famous for revealing details of celebrities' personal lives and taunting celebrities. He wouldn't have become famous if he was only a snarky smartass. That's not exciting enough for gossip columnists like Perez Hilton. On that note, are gossip columnists bullies? Hmmmmm...I think so to some extent. I think that any avid gossiper is a version of a bully.

http://wonderwall.msn.com/#wallState...-1576650.story

Originally Posted by knight_shadow (Post 1994086)

Meh. I'm torn.

When dealing with children -- I think so.

When dealing with adults -- Celebrities are pretty much "public domain," so satire/mockery/parody comes with the territory. If we were to call gossip columnists bullies, we'd have to call SNL, MadTV, etc bullies as well.

Originally Posted by DrPhil (Post 1994094)

Gossip is different than satire/mockery/parody.

Originally Posted by knight_shadow (Post 1994097)

ETA: Ex. I think that if we didn't have the Perez Hiltons of the world blatantly saying "Clay Aiken is in the closet!" we'd still have SNL skits showing Clay with subtle mannerisms/a lisp.

Originally Posted by DrPhil (Post 1994100)

I agree. So, where are the margins? There have to be margins or else we wouldn't have a thread about bullying and cyberbullying. Are there no margins when we're talking about adults and especially celebrities?

Originally Posted by knight_shadow (Post 1994104)

Now that I think of it, when I referred to "social media spillover" earlier in this thread, I was referring more to stalking. "Bullying" (as I know it) shouldn't affect grown folks (I know that this is definitely not the case, but I can't fully wrap my mind around it).

Originally Posted by DrPhil (Post 1994105)

Stalking and bullying are not that different when you think of the instances where bullies were also stalkers.

LOL @ your "hard" exterior