Cyberbullying

Our reflection topic for class last week was cyberbullying. We didn't get to discuss much about it, but I find it a fascinating topic. My daughter has a LiveJournal account, and has had nothing in the way of cyberbullying on that blog. She avoids it by restricting it to "friends only" comments, but has seen friends' blogs on which random users have left hate comments and offensive pictures.
One of my daughter's hobbies is collecting Asian Ball-Jointed Dolls (ABJDs- often also called Super-Dollifes). These dolls have become very popular in this country, especially with those who are interested in anime/manga, Japanese music and fashion, Japanese culture, and also with doll enthusiasts. Unfortunately, as with anything that draws a lot of attention, the world of Super Dollfie collecting has its detractors and critics. One of those critics went so far as to create a Wikipedia article which slammed the dolls and particularly those who collect them. The author of the entry made personal attacks on the collectors, going to far as to refer to people who participate on the ABJD Forum, The Den of Angels. He actually named names and posted pictures, calling the collectors "losers and deviants". The entry flew under the radar of the editors for a long time, but has since been removed.
This was an example that usually does not come to mind when thinking about types of cyberbullying. Even though the hateful words and comments did not happen on a blog or forum, it is bullying nonetheless. It is amazing to me the time that people will take in the attempt to make people feel bad about things they enjoy doing. It must have taken the person who created the Wikipedia article several hours to write- it was not a random comment that could be fired off in a couple of minutes. It is very unfortunate that such an undesirable facet of our society has to find its way onto the internet. But, of course, the internet really is a reflection of ourselves, flaws and all.