By Poh Wei Zhe
GEORGE TOWN: In a survey that aimed to measure cyber-bullying, Malaysia was found, ignobly residing at the sixth place among the twenty-eight participating countries. “Comparitech.com”, a tech review site, conducted an online polling to identify if Malaysian children have been subjected to cyber-bullying. Surprisingly, 23% of Malaysian parents acknowledged their children have been victims of cyberbullying at least once in a year.
A famous saying reads “sticks and stones may break bones, but words, unfortunately can hurt feelings of individuals”. A Taiwanese celebrity named Show Lo has apologised to his ex-partner after she accused him of cheating her. Some social media users have however used their social media in calling for Lo’s removal from popular variety shows such as “Go Fighting” (2015) and “Produce Camp” (2020).
Do you think attacking people behind the keyboard is an appropriate way to use social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube?
“I think it is not appropriate. Even though there are no specific regulations for cyberbullying, our own moral compass should remind us that it is not right and commendable,” said Lim Tse Shaun, a lecturer from School of Communication and Media.
In terms of severity, Lim claimed that the practice of bullying has been always there, even before the era of cyberbullying. Citing YouTube as an example, Shaun said it is not difficult to find users who insult others who have contrasting opinions in the comment section.
“Some are unaffected by this action and grow stronger from the experience. Some others will most likely condone this behavior as fine and privileging, so they would also join in the bullying activity. On the contrary, another group will suffer from self-esteem issues and suffer finding their own values in society,” added Lim.
Lim encouraged social media users to think twice before commenting and develop empathy, if they understand how the others would feel if the comment is posted, thus, they would be more careful in phrasing their comments.
Ooi Li Fang, another lecturer from School of Communication and Media, strongly agrees that social media is an excellent platform to connect with each other, but everyone has to use it wisely.
“If you are discussing about media in Malaysia, the style of online reporting posts is still relatively objective. Only a small group of media adopt a novel model or use a sensational title as the selling point,” Ooi said.
“Perhaps, we can begin with the activities to educate the younger generation on how to distinguish between objective reporting and sensational reporting. They also need to know that everyone is responsible for what he/she says and writes online, and that the consequences are serious,” added Ooi.
She further said there have been many cases of suicide due to cyberbullying. Thus, parents need to educate their children from a young age. Beyond that, parents need to pay attention and supervise their children while they are using the social media.
“Basically, if social media users are rational, they will not simply criticise others, but they will think carefully before making a comment,” said Lim Yee Jiae, a student pursuing Bachelor of Communication (Media Production) (Honours).
She said education plays a role in teaching people to be responsible when using social media while reminding teenagers that they have more positive virtues than what people say online. On the other hand, she finds it necessary to impose stricter regulations on social media.
Brendan Lee Yuan Run, a Year 1 student of Diploma in Mass Communication said social media users have to find out the truthfulness of the information and not to be judgemental. He said that he emphasises rationality in expressing opinions, rather than viciously attack from the moral high ground.
“My family always teaches me to listen carefully and not simply judge a person or incident,” added Lee.
“Please do not hurt others and pay attention to every word that you write on social media”, Lee mentioned.
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