Are you clued up on Cyberbullying?

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I suppose I've been quite fortunate to only have experienced this a very few times since I became acquainted to the internet. Having researched it, I've found it's incredibly common - the internet attracts people who have quite serious personality disorders, and is an easy place for them to find twisted gratification in deliberately stirring up conflict. Most of us are aware of trolls, who simply make ridiculous statements anywhere they think they will get a reaction. They're fairly easy to identify and deal with - just give them no attention whatsoever, and their simple little minds get bored pretty quickly. A bit more difficult to deal with are cyber bullies. These internet users establish themselves on a chosen site, gain a little bit of power, and have a following of a group of people who will back them up. Think playground bully transferred to the anonymous world wide web. They are a little bit cleverer than trolls; they will seem at first to be a helpful and trusted member of a forum, and wait until they have a bit of a following before showing their true colours. What's really disturbing is that their behaviour is usually condoned by the forum or group. Even those who disagree with them, find it difficult to stand up to them, in case the bully targets them as well. Quite often when dealing with this kind of bully, you'll find yourself up against a little group of their followers as well. We need to be aware of the tactics used by online bullies, so that we can identify when we come across them. Dealing with them is easy - ignore them. Don't engage. Identifying them - unless you happen to be their current target - takes just a little bit of research and knowledge. If you want to know a little bit more, have a look at this site: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/532829/online_forum_etiquette_how_to_deal.html?cat=15 I found it really helpful, hopefully it will help if anyone reading this has any such problems.