Bullying is one of those problems that most people encounter at some point in their lives. Now, it goes beyond physical interactions, most especially since a lot of people spend more time online. The more time you spend online, the more you will get exposed to cyberbullying. The good news is, most social media platforms have built-in strategies that can help in protecting yourself and your loved ones. At the same time, they are implementing rules that can help in reducing the risk of scams and other forms of cyberattacks.
Cyberbullying has various effects. For instance, victims might not feel comfortable or safe in some situations. While victims who were harassed more often could think of committing suicide. Unfortunately, preventing cyberbullying can be difficult, however, there are some things that you can do to prepare yourself and your loved ones. It is important that you should be responsible online and know your options, most especially, when it comes to your personal information. The following are some of the best methods to prevent cyberbullying.
Stay Safe Online
Be careful always and protect yourself online. This is probably one of the best ways of protecting yourself from any kinds of threats. If you feel unsafe or unusual about someone or something, then you might as well step back. Regardless of if there is no particular aggressor, most often our first instinct about any bizarre situation is always right.
Keeping safe online could mean different things to different people. For instance, if you spend more time socializing online or exploring different communities and topics, then you should try to develop good judgment and stay away from anything that seems remotely negative or unstable. Most especially, you should be extra careful when it comes to your personal information and what is shown online. Using a VPN for PC against cyberattacks might be a good idea since it can hide your IP address and does not monitor your activities online.
Always Protect Your Passwords
Although most situations does not reach this point, however, cyberbullies could use your passwords and personal data against you. This is just one of the reasons why it is essential that you should take necessary precautions when it comes to protecting your passwords, particularly, if you spend more time online. Keep in mind that you should protect your financial information when applying for a loan.
One of the easiest ways of managing your passwords is to store them securely in password managers. However, they could get exposed to the same risks as well. Most probably, you could manage a lot of passwords by putting them on paper. For added security, you can write some hints rather than putting the whole passwords and try to use unrelated passwords for various logins.
Learn to Manage Privacy Settings
One of the most efficient ways of reducing the risk of cyberbullying online is to manage your privacy settings on social media. Luckily, some social media platforms offer you with some level of control with regards to how your profile will look. For instance, whether or not your posts will be visible or your photos will be public. Although a more private profile means that other users will have restricted access, however, it also means that it will be much easier for you to recognize your network.
Major social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram offer a lot of ways of blocking cyberbullies without aggravating them or engaging much further. Furthermore, you can set up your profile as private and remove some followers to prevent them from accessing your posts. This is a perfect way of preventing any confrontations without dramatically make changes on the look of your profile.
Block Cyberbullies in User Settings
If you can’t prevent the situation from escalating and you want to resolve the problem quickly, then one of the easiest solution is to block them on social media. This is the best thing that you can do if you are a victim. You can easily block someone by visiting their profile and making a few clicks. This is quite helpful, most especially, if you want to prevent cyberbullying from strangers or from someone in your circle.
On most platforms, the process is quick and simple. Basically, the process is just the same on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, which is really great. All you have to do is go to the user’s profile page and tap the three dost, then select Block. The same procedure can also be applied on your mobile phone, in case you receive harassing texts. All you have to do is block their numbers.
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