This past weeks class on cyber bullying was eye opening to say the least. Cyber bullying is a topic that myself and im sure the rest of my classmates have been exposed to since grade school. Back then though we were not given such grim examples or anecdotes about cyber bullying and some of the things that can result from it. The two cyber bullying stories that we focused our discussion on from the Citron reading and the American Life Show were both cases that show how cyber bullying can have a pretty significant impact on ones life. In both scenarios the cyber bullies or “trolls” engage in continuous attacks on their victims and refuse to lay off in the least bit. While reading/ listening to both accounts I developed a great amount of sympathy for the women who were on the receiving end of these awful attacks. I thought to myself “Here are two women who are simply trying to express themselves through blogging and people feel the need to harass them to the point where it is effecting their day to day lives so negatively”. Our class conversation further opened my eyes to the severity of cyber bullying.

In the Citron reading, the story about Anna Mayer really hit home with me. The things that were said to her and the persistence in which her cyber bullies used is an example of an extreme case but definitely worth noting. These cyber bullies were creating a completely false identity of Anna and it was so bad that it started to effect her work and professional life. After she graduated school the attacks did not stop and there were numerous posts made about her regarding her work life. She was made out to be someone who was unemployable and that she would bring corruption to the workplace. “Mayer is financially irresponsible, and has a lack of discretion. She will give your workplace a bad reputation.” These are the kind of things that were being said to the point where 75% of Google search results were disparaging articles about her. I tried to put myself in Anna’s shoes and imagine how frustrating this must have been for her. Something that is completely out her control is having a serious impact on her life beyond the computer. I could not even explain how furious I would be if I was the victim in attacks such as these especially if they were impacting my chances of getting a full time job.

The case we listened to from the “This American Life” radio show introduced us to Lindy West. Like Anna Mayer, she enjoyed blogging about various topics. Also like Anna she received multiple comments a day centered around rape because of an article that she had been involved with. Or in her words “I woke up everyday and ate 30 rape jokes for breakfast.” After she had been being trolled about her dead father for quite some time she gave in and “Fed the troll”. This story gave me good insight about the kind of people that trolls are. Her phone conversation with the one troll who ever apologized for his actions told me that these online trolls are angry people who use their insecurities in their own lives to make someone else miserable. I have to commend Lindy for her confidence, im sure it was not easy for her to talk to the person who had been making fun of her dead father. I assume that it is not very often that someone gets the opportunity to talk to one of their trolls and she has my utmost respect for doing so.