Technology Solution for Global Social Problems: Cyberbullying

Question: What social problem would you solve through the use of technology if you knew how?


Bullying has been a social that many young teens, adolescence, and even adults go through. After the internet became widely popular in the 21st century, and social media started to emerge, bullying has expanded to various heights, targeting individuals not only face to face, but also digitally. That is known as cyberbullying. Technology makes it easier for individuals to voice their opinion and thoughts on the internet. Because of that, bullies use technology and social media to their advantage to exploit unnecessary comments, pictures, and posts about another person. It works in their favor because their identity could be anonymous. That way they don't have to be blamed or feel bad for what they are doing.

Cyberbullying is another level of hurting someone. Bully lowers self-esteem and makes the individual think lowly about themselves. That can drive them to depression, change schools, or the worst, suicide. Many people don't understand the level of humiliation and hurt these people go through. They think that it's just a phase or that the bullied person can just ignore the bullies. The thing is that the information posted on the internet will stay there forever. Even if the bully deletes the messages. That information can still be retrieved.

An example would be this movie called Cyberbully. The victim was being bullied profusely on a social media website for "sleeping" with another student and was labeled as a "slut." Her account was also hacked and had some disturbing information posted about her that wasn't true. Because of that, many of the students at her school started to judge her and soon enough she started to lose her friends and respect. In the end she tried to commit suicide.

This movie is an example of what real people go through when they are bullied online. It can cause detrimental effects. Though teens are being told in class or by their parents that they shouldn't post online things that they wouldn't say in person, this type of bullying still persists.

With the growing technology, almost anything is possible. Though there are already some action in place about these types of bullying, I think with more advanced technology, there can be something that can put cyberbullying, and all types of bullying, to an end.  For each social media website, it should be regulated by a sort of system put into computers or the social media itself that scans for possible threats and bullying and brings that to attention. If there are hurtful posts or messages being posted, the person who posted it should get a warning. If that person continues to post those types of messages online, they shouldn't be able to access that social website anymore. Though, this system can have its loopholes. Some messages or posts may not actually be inappropriate or directed to a person. Some social media have "report" buttons for inappropriate content but that doesn't stop that person from posting. In those cases, shutting their account down could work.

Another solution, though many would be against it, is to create a internet system that blocks social media websites altogether. I think lots of bullying occurs on social media. Maybe by taking out the social media, bullying can stop. That would definitely have negative effects as almost everyone goes on social media everyday. But doing so may stop bullying that has been going on that no one knows about.

All in all, in today's society, cyberbullying, or any type of bullying is a issue that many teens may go through. There are things that authorities and officials have done in each state to minimize cyberbully such as laws and social media created "reports" that users can use if they find inappropriate. Cyberbullying is something that no one should go through and it should stop.