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Cyber self-harm: Why do people troll themselves online?


Camy

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I think we would all agree that computers have changed the world and our perception of it, too. I'm fascinated by computers and the changes they bring. However, cyber self-harm is a new one on me. It fringes on the 'almost too weird to be true.'

Young people are anonymously bullying and trolling themselves online in what some are calling cyber self-harm. Why?

Internet trolling is on the increase, according to recent reports.

When people are bombarded with abuse and threats on social networking sites the common assumption is that a stranger is doing it, but it's not always the case.

Some people do it to themselves.

It's known as self-trolling or self-cyberbullying and some charities and social media experts say it is part of another emerging problem they are calling cyber or digital self-harm.


Read the article

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This appears to be a variation on something there's been numerous examples of on the Internet going back quite a while. In that one, an individual fabricates an online identity as one with a serious affliction, either physical or emotional, and diarizes their supposed life in dealing with it - or more precisely, not dealing with it, as their "condition" inevitably worsens, evoking outpourings of sympathy and concern. Eventually, this "person" dies or commits suicide, thus eliciting an avalanche or sorrow. What's really happening is that the individual is seeking the kind of empathy, validation and emotional support that's lacking in their real life.

The Internet isn't so much the cause of such behavior as it is a convenient vehicle for facilitating it; there are plenty of people who portray themselves as victims in real life for the same reasons.

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This business of craving attention, and I agree with Cole that is what they are doing, is such a sad statement of personal values. Garnering empathy by saying negative things about yourself sounds like a pretty deep psychosis.

With all the social networking sites out there it would seem pretty absurd to spread rumors and innuendo about yourself that will be online forever. Kids will discover this when some college admissions official takes a look at what they post. It is no different with the images these kids post of themselves in very revealing activities.

Back when I was writing On the Wire I read and viewed some pretty disturbing things about kids on the internet. Turning on a webcam and posting personal sexual images, responding to the suggestions of strangers asking them to take their clothes off, show it, bend over, stroke it. I could only ask why kids responded to these things.

Sexual chat rooms only claim that everyone is 18 and perfectly legal, we know better. It takes a pretty sad individual to masturbate on cam and show their faces. Don't they realize that stuff is passed around and never goes away? And since there are so many kids who view these sites I can't imagine that the word doesn't get around that so and so is there.

I don't understand the need, it isn't just a gay thing, and so I ask again: why?

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This appears to be a variation on something there's been numerous examples of on the Internet going back quite a while. In that one, an individual fabricates an online identity as one with a serious affliction, either physical or emotional, and diarizes their supposed life in dealing with it - or more precisely, not dealing with it, as their "condition" inevitably worsens, evoking outpourings of sympathy and concern. Eventually, this "person" dies or commits suicide, thus eliciting an avalanche or sorrow. What's really happening is that the individual is seeking the kind of empathy, validation and emotional support that's lacking in their real life.

The Internet isn't so much the cause of such behavior as it is a convenient vehicle for facilitating it; there are plenty of people who portray themselves as victims in real life for the same reasons.

I think Paul has accurately described why some kids (and older people) begin attacking themselves: "What's really happening is that the individual is seeking the kind of empathy, validation and emotional support that's lacking in their real life." That is sad.

Colin :icon_geek:

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I think Paul has accurately described why some kids (and older people) begin attacking themselves: "What's really happening is that the individual is seeking the kind of empathy, validation and emotional support that's lacking in their real life." That is sad.

Colin :icon_geek:

There is another aspect of this as well, which is often overlooked, a teenage friend (he is 19) got a lot of abusive postings to his accounts after he broke up with his girlfriend. When I mentioned to him that he did not seem very upset by these his response was "hey, at least they're not ignoring me." It seems that the worse thing for a teenager is no have nobody posting comments to your pages. If somebody appears to be cyberbullying you it means you are an interesting person who is worth bullying!

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How many people on the Internets are what they say they are?

Most of us here are well established personalities that have been around for years. We've met each other in real life- talked on the phone. Shared pictures of our pets.

However- you don't have to go very far to meet obvious frauds.

How many 14 year olds have turned out to be fifty something creepers? How many Navy SEALS turned out to be 14 year old PlayStation heroes?

The tubes of the Internets are a good place to be someone else. Most of the time it's harmless. Sometimes its intentionally malicious.

So if someone is dumping on them self, who would know better that they deserve every word of it?

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