Because of the online violence, another young man lost his life, can the online violence be saved?

Remember the 24-year-old girl who was subjected to massive online violence for dyeing pink hair? On the evening of February 19, 2023, a heartbreaking news came about her: according to the confirmation of one of her best high school friends, she died after battling depression for more than half a year.

This incident reminds people to pay more attention to the resistance to online violence, and the characteristics of this form of violence are very obvious, because it is an indirect violence, so the harm is mainly sustained psychological damage, which in turn affects the victim's physiology and behavior, and the subsequent impact is long-lasting and far-reaching.

At present, although the real name, but the real deal with online violence still faces a huge problem, of course, when it comes to this problem, many times think about the core is: why?

For example, these people are unreasonable emotional venting? Or is it personality role-playing? To answer this question, the perpetrators of online violence can be divided into several situations, and the psychological logic behind them is also different in different situations.

Screenshot of the girl's social network content

1. What are the types and psychological characteristics of the perpetrators behind online violence?

First, direct attackers. As the name suggests, it is a person who launches a direct attack on certain phenomena or individuals online, and the reason for this type of online violence is simple, that is, some aspects of the target really conflict with their own values.

Secondly, emotional catharsis. After the direct attacker launches the attack, an attack scenario has been formed, in this situation, there will be obvious directions and gaps, stigmatized labels flying all over the world, at this time there will be some people, indirectly connect some of their experiences to events or individuals, in order to vent their negative emotions by the way. For example, we see that there are many people who just use obscenities, but there is no targeted accusation.

Finally, followers. A large proportion of online abusers fall into this category. Unclear so, do not distinguish right from wrong, each has its own purpose, may find it fun, may not understand, may be a young Internet nomad, or legal illiteracy, or low ability to empathize, etc., this type often only incites and cajoling, without actual content.

The psychological logic behind these three types is different, but the following are prevalent:

First, responsibility sharing. A very basic psychological concept is that one person does something with concentrated responsibility, but a group of people do something, most people will feel that this thing is not only mine, others should also be responsible, I don't do it, others will do it. A decrease in responsibility leads to a disconnect in behavior control.

Second, the group is ignorant. If the group is not thinking, not dialectical, and not cautious, then when the individual enters the group, he will retain his or her opinion because of the high degree of integration pressure in the situation, and at the same time greatly follow the opinion of the group, because it is necessary to be gregarious, because it is necessary to avoid risks, etc., and everyone does one thing together is justice. This is an extremely wrong idea, in reality, not to mention the endless network.

Finally, personally identifying features are watered down. Real names do not represent anything, just as we wear masks, masks, hats, sunglasses to cover personal identification features, or need to make individuals aware that they are exposed to the recognizable range, personal characteristics can be recognized or not, is a strong psychological suggestive factor, if every Internet thug can see the face, then the probability of riots will be much smaller.

Second, when online violence comes to "knock on the door", how to reduce psychological damage as much as possible? How to reasonably fight back against the abuser?

The following aspects can be noted:

The first is prevention. Usually the root cause of online violence is some dissenting opinions on the Internet, or some fabricated facts. It is more common that you express an opinion, and then people with different opinions will attack you, continue to harass, expose personal information, fabricate and disseminate, this prevention is also simple, that is, do not publish some obviously more absolute opinions on some more unregulated online platforms.

Then there's the handling of personal information. Do not leave personal information casually on the network, such as some people like to send life photos, geographical location sharing, etc., the network platform is actually not a relatively closed place, nor is it a private domain, although there is a real name, but it is still very public, so this information actually has a relatively large exposure risk.

Finally, let's talk about coping. If you do encounter online violence, what is the first thing to do? The first step is to trace the source and collect evidence. In the case that the evidence chain is relatively complete, we can choose to call the police, and then find a lawyer to take legal channels to deal with it.

So what kind of evidence do we need to preserve? For example, the number of people forwarded, screenshots, audio or video recordings, and the description of this matter by some relevant people, or I mentioned earlier - traceability, is to find the source of the fabricated facts on which this online violence is based.

We need to understand a truth: since it is a violent act, we should use legal means to protect ourselves and deal with the person who commits such violence, and do not let them form a view that such statements published on the Internet or the distress caused to others do not need to be held responsible.

After doing this, you can give the evidence to law enforcement, to your lawyer, or to some legal aid agency, so that it is easier for you to withdraw from the matter. Then you can delete the software or temporarily change the environment, stay with your family, and communicate with friends.

There is also a more important problem, that is, we can see that some people can get out of things well after removing software and submitting evidence, and then adjust their emotions. But even if many people do, there will be some profound consequences in the future. For example, he will have nightmares, will constantly feel pressure, will have insomnia, will have decreased appetite, become very poor in social state, unwilling to communicate, and even feel that many people on the road look at him with wrong eyes, and there will be auditory hallucinations. Then when such a situation occurs, you should immediately go to a professional for help, such as a psychologist in the hospital, a psychological counselor, or take a step back and talk to a friend you trust.

At the same time, if the family notices such a situation, then it is necessary to strengthen companionship, and then strengthen communication, of course, it should be effective communication, not a variety of complaints, at this time we need social support, strong social support, close companionship of family and friends, is a very strong social support. If the symptoms are strong, you should also cooperate with drug treatment, so that you can get out of this state better and faster.

Bad words on the Internet

Third, will online abusers realize that they are online violence? Is attacking pink hair a bit of "slut shaming"?

As for whether the violent person will realize that he is in online violence, if this question is placed when the concept of online violence first appeared, I would feel that there may be a situation that may not be aware of it, because there is no prominent definition. But you see now, everyone knows what this is, including the fact that the revision of the law is also incorporating this as much as possible, and now you say that the Internet abuser cannot realize that he is in the Internet violence, if the Internet abuser is a natural person with full criminal responsibility, the possibility of not realizing it is relatively small.

Unless he is a young Internet user: 2. suffering from mental illness; 3. being troubled by personality disorders.

As for whether online violence is considered a certain degree of "slut shaming", it is necessary to look at specific events. If it is related to women and sex, it should be considered because it is mainly aimed at deviating from traditional gender expectations, so if combined with the tragedy of this girl, it should be regarded as a certain degree of "slut shaming".

One point that needs to be noted here is that more than 70% of the "slut shaming" on the Internet is actually made by the same gender. As for the reason, it is nothing more than to find group identity, find a sense of existence, vent emotions, and stand on the so-called moral high ground to suppress those who have certain aspects of the same sex who do not have the conditions themselves.