Fanbullying redux

[dreamer_easy]

Someone reserved Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats by Nancy E. Willard, which means I have to take it back next week, so I'm going to take some brief notes from it. It doesn't add a whole lot to what I've already said, just reinforces and clarifies some of it.

From Willard's definition of cyberbullying:

"Sending or posting harmful material or engaging in other forms of social aggression using the Internet or other digital technologies. These online communications can be vicious. Cyberbullying can be happening 24/7. Damaging text and images can be widely disseminated and impossible to fully remove."

"Social aggression" includes flaming; harassment; denigration; impersonation; outing and trickery (for example, making private messages public); exclusion; cyberstalking; and cyberthreats. Denigration is the flavour of cyberbullying which I've been talking about and which frequently occur in comms like the Who anon meme and fandom_wank.

"Denigration is speech about a target that is harmful, untrue, or cruel... The purpose for sending or posting the material is to interfere with friendships or damage the reputation of the target. This activity includes spreading gossip and rumours."

Male bullies tend to be directly aggressive (as I remember from Usenet - oh boy!). But in fandom as a whole, girls and women predominate - especially teenage girls and young women - and so does the female form of bullying:

Female bullies tend to engage in more indirect bullying, often called relational aggression. Female bullies tend to assume the role of leader in a core group of peers. They are socially cruel and manipulative. They attempt to ostracise targets through backbiting, spreading rumours, trashing reputations, and rewarding others for refusing to interact pleasantly with the target." (emphasis mine)

Girls primarily use the Internet for communication, boys for gaming. IRL, boys are more likely than girls to be bullies; online, it's the other way around. Fanbullying is just our little corner of a large and ugly phenomenon.

Willard quotes a list of "Bully Characteristics", some of which really rang a bell for me. "Impulsive, hot-headed... many [have] good or inflated self-esteem, and feel little or no responsibility for their actions. Easily frustrated; have difficulty conforming to rules. Expect others to pick on them; see threats where none exist... Unable to understand the emotional experiences of others."

Finally for now, let me quote Willard on the crucial role of bystanders:

"Influencing bystanders to intervene in face-to-face bullying by expressing disapproval, providing public or private support to the target, or reporting such bullying to responsible adults is recognized as a critically important prevention strategy."

In other words: it's up to fandom to stop fanbullying. Instead of accepting it as a given, we should be questioning it and refusing to participate in it. Willard's focus is on school, of course: we will have to be the responsible adults ourselves.