The internet is no longer restricted to simply searching for information or using basic message boards and forums. Today, using the internet is a way to connect with people from across the globe, play games with friends, and even stay in touch with distant relatives. However, with the increase in internet access worldwide, threats, violence, and bullying have also increased internationally. Understanding the most common types of internet violence that are prevalent in today’s society is a way for you to avoid potentially irritating, embarrassing, or shameful situations whenever you are online.

|SEE ALSO: Online Bullying Statistics|

Cyber Bullying in Chat Rooms and Message Boards

Cyber bullying in online chat rooms and message boards has been on the rise within the past decade with the advent of social networking using mobile and computer devices. Cyber bullying involves everything from verbal harassment to threats using email, instant messaging, commenting tools, forums, and even social media messages and comments. To better understand the difference between a message board and a chat room, check this article on SmallBusiness.Chron.com.

Bullying and Blogs

Bullying within online blogs is also becoming more prevalent using the tools and resources readily made for individuals to easily create and publish their very own blogs without any programming knowledge. Blog bullying can be done with simple harassment via a commenting tool or platform, in addition to spreading links on dangerous or threatening websites and other online communities

Journalists and writers who publish controversial material and write on hot issues are prone to endure online bullying when they publish their views and share them on their blogs. Our article Cyber Bullying Facts sheds some light on the kinds of victims who endure cyber bullying and why it is actually so easy.

Social Media Bullying and Internet Violence

Social medial bullying and internet violence are also highly common with the use of social platforms the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, and even Instagram and Vine. Using social media to bully others is easy for those who are seeking out targets without potential consequences. When a user is bullying someone online, they have the ability to do so without being caught, simply by using anonymous profiles and fake usernames. Tracking down bullies on social media can oftentimes be difficult, especially if the bully is not making any direct threats of violence or actions towards the victim.

Our article Cyber Safety: Common User Mistakes Online explains how to use social networking safely and properly. Any time you want to join a popular social networking community, be sure to read the terms and conditions before publishing content or sharing personal information and details about yourself. Whenever you become a new member of an online community, it is also highly advisable to review and edit your account’s privacy settings. This includes your profile visibility, as well as the visibility of any new photos, content and updates you share with any of your friends or online followers.

Video and Photo Threats

Video and photographic threats are also common with online aggression, violence, and internet bullying. Our article The Need for Cyberbullying Help tells the story of a victim of photo threats that sadly ended in her death. Receiving threatening photos and videos constitutes as bullying and harassment, and is treated as such when properly reported. Ensuring you store and save any threatening phone calls, voicemails, photos, or videos you receive from a bully is a way for you to reach out to the proper authorities when seeking further guidance and protection by the law.

Stalking and Harassment

Whenever you are online, leaving a trace of who you are and where you are currently located or residing is not uncommon. Any website, online blog, and social networking community today collects data and personal information from all its users. Whenever you choose to register as a new member of an online community, forum, or blog, it is important to read and review all privacy policies, along with terms and conditions.

Forms of online stalking and harassment vary greatly, and you can read more about them in our article Internet Stalking. When harassment leads to sharing additional details regarding your personal life including your name, telephone number, email address, street name, and even your full address, it is essential to seek professional authorities by reporting the stalking and online bullying or harassment to local police.

Stalking online may first begin in the forms of email, messaging, or simply adding you as a friend with the use of a social networking tool like Facebook, or by following you on Tumblr. When a user is able to find additional information and details about another person with the use of online social networking tools, it is easy to locate them and to find out more details about them using popular search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, or Bing.

If you are struggling to overcome harassment from an online stalker or bully, it is possible to file an official report with local law enforcement. Prior to filing your case details, be sure to include as much information and evidence as possible. Take online screenshots and photos, and print pages of harassment, as well as the identity of the user or individual who is bullying or threatening you. The more evidence you have available for local authorities, the easier it is to put a proper plan of action into place to help with protecting you in the future. Our article Cyber Bullying Tips discusses this in more detail.

Avoiding Online Bullying and Harassment Altogether

Although it is not always possible, implementing a few tips and tricks can help you avoid any type of online bullying, stalking, or harassment altogether. Anytime you are thinking of registering as a new member of an online blog, forum, or social networking site, be sure to read and thoroughly review the privacy policy and terms and conditions for members.

Ensuring you are entirely comfortable with the information, photos, and other media you post that will be visible to the world is a way to find a network that is right for you while avoiding the potential of running into an online bully, stalker, or attacker. You can find more useful information in our article Getting Involved with Online Social Networks.

When you sign up to become a new user on any online site or platform, do so anonymously by creating an inventive and new or unique screen name. Having a unique username is not only a way to deter bullies and online stalkers, but it is also a way to keep potential thieves and individuals with bad intentions from considering you as a potential target to verbally and mentally assault online with the use of internet violence and threats.

If you are the owner of a website or a private domain for a blog you own, increasing your privacy is possible by investing in domain privacy services. Most domain registrars today provide the option of selecting domain privacy services. By keeping the name of the individual who registered the domain private, they are protected from being viewed and researched. When you have a private domain, it is possible to update it with content without being known and identified by your online users, followers, and fans.

Knowing more about the most common types of internet violence and bullying existing today is not only a way for you to protect yourself more, but it is also a way to protect your own family and any members of your household. The more you know about online bullying and violence using the internet, the easier it is to avoid situations that can potentially become devastating, or actually threatening in extreme cases.