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Many consider bullying\u00a0over\u00a0the internet as\u00a0a problem faced only by youths, but the workplace is not immune to this phenomenon. Such incidents at the workplace are actually on the increase.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Bullies at the workplace often resort to bullying over the internet to intimidate their colleagues and control their territory.\u00a0It is vital that workers who are affected by this abuse\u00a0take action\u00a0and do not continue to suffer in silence. While every case is different, if workers know how they should deal with bullying over the internet at the workplace, they would be better able to overcome it if\u00a0it\u00a0happened.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When a colleague or supervisor\u00a0at the workplace says something that embarrasses you, posts something that is not true about you on social media or attacks you on the internet, do not give in to a knee-jerk reaction but take the time to pull your thoughts together. In spite of the hard words that the victim may be subjected to, they should not retort in anger but should respond in a reasonable manner. Sometimes there is no need for one to respond and, in some\u00a0cases,\u00a0one needs to maintain contact with the person who is perpetuating the abuse.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Although the best course of action is to ignore the\u00a0cyberbully, sometimes circumstances at work require that we reply to an email or other form of communication.\u00a0A sense of calm needs to be maintained in such cases.\u00a0You do not want the whole office to witness an exchange of\u00a0angry\u00a0missiles between you and a colleague.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The victim needs to remember that the interpretation of the written word may\u00a0be different from the meaning intended. The person experiencing the abuse needs to make sure that they are\u00a0clear and honest about what they find offensive. One needs to ensure that the\u00a0cyberbully\u00a0understands that the comments on Facebook need to stop. When, then, the behaviour of the person who is being abusive does not change and the bullying on the internet persists, the time has come to move on to the next level.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It is important that\u00a0all\u00a0the comments, messages and posts on social media\u00a0are gathered for evidence. Although the first reaction is to erase all, without evidence there will be no proof of\u00a0cyberbullying. If the employer is not ready to respond to or deal with\u00a0cyberbullying, the victim should consider contacting the police and lodging a report. Such a report is considered to be important in cases where the bullying escalates to violent threats. Many times the police can trace who is sending the emails and messages.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A worker who is being\u00a0targeted by a bully should remain calm and rational whatever the person carrying out the abuse says and does.\u00a0 If you become upset, send negative messages or say something you regret, you weaken your position at work.\u00a0 An employee who is targeted by such behaviour should remember that the\u00a0cyberbully\u00a0would be waiting for a reaction. At this stage, professionalism should always reign.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Bullying over the internet is a delicate subject and should not be treated in isolation. If you are a worker who is being bullied on the internet, be sure to surround yourself by family members and friends who are ready to support you. Look for people who can understand what you are going through. It is of great benefit to talk to someone about what you are experiencing, so seek professional help or counselling to help you deal with this harassment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many consider bullying\u00a0over\u00a0the internet as\u00a0a problem faced only by youths, but the workplace is not immune to this phenomenon. Such incidents at the workplace are actually on the increase.\u00a0 Bullies […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2264,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"spay_email":""},"issuem_issue":[94],"issuem_issue_categories":[7],"issuem_issue_tags":[],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"2.8.8","language":"en","enabled_languages":["mt","en"],"languages":{"mt":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/2263"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2263"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/2263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2285,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/2263\/revisions\/2285"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue?post=2263"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_categories?post=2263"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_tags?post=2263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}