Cyber-bullying is a growing concern
1.Write a Literature Review on “Cyber-bullying”.
2.Disucuss about the Social Marketing Plan on “Cyber-bullying”.
Cyber crime is an unlawful activity where the computer becomes a tool or a target is used for the creation of cyber threat and cyber terrorism. This is because of disruptive activities in cyber space with the major intention of increasing social, ideological, political or similar objectives. These are done either to make a person afraid or to fool a person. “Cyber-bullying is nothing but the use of information and communication technologies to give trouble to others by sending of messages, emails or more.” (Notar, Padgett & Roden, 2013) The material of cyber threats can range from anything be it texts or emails or discussion groups, message boards chats or phones. The cyber threats can be either direct or indirect threats which can be distressing material. This might lead to the belief that the writer is upset emotionally or might have thoughts of harming people or leading to committing suicide (Hinduja & Patchin, 2014).
The advancement of technology has made several things possible which were unimaginable earlier. The progression of technology is equated with the advancement of human societies. There have been several developments in human societies which have helped make several advancements but there have been several negative happenings as well. Due to the internet, there has been the existence of cyber-bullying which would not have been possible earlier at the time there was no internet. The word “cyber-bullying” was not prevalent even before a decade. The problem however has become immensely severe today. There is no need for the cyber bullies to be strong or fast or best in any sense, it is enough for them to have access to the internet and need to have some sort of a gadget to terrorize (Kowalski et al., 2014).
It is possible for anyone to become a cyber bully and such people usually do not posses much worries regarding having face to face confrontations with the people whom they target. The double edged nature of the modern technology has led to the emergence and immense growth of the concept of cyber bullying. This leads to severe psychological impacts on the people who are targeted. There have been instances where people have been suffering from depression. They have been situations where people have not been able to come out from their homes into the open due to the negative impact it has made on them. The major victims of cyber bullying are school children and kids who are targeted as an extension of their bullying in class. Therefore it is necessary for the teachers to ensure that the negative implications of bullying are nipped in the bud and it is discouraged vehemently in school. In order to stop such practices, it needs to be ensured that the curriculum includes the negative impacts which cyber bullying can have on children and their minds (Slonje, Smith & FriséN, 2013). It needs to be ensured that there are holistic relations in the peer groups and also at schools and primary education institutions to develop a proper level of awareness regarding the consequences of cyber-bullying. The virtual interactions need not be considered as fantasy as it causes young people to remain engaged with them.
Impact on society
Situation Analysis:
It is considered that cyber-bullying is a severe issue which takes place in different situations and different scenarios. The target public who are to be considered in this particular assignment is that of the government bodies. In case the support of the government is attained for the plan it will be possible to collect funds for raising awareness and its campaign in the different places to be targeted. The media is one of the most useful tools in reaching the target public and this is because of the reason that the media is very strong and the capability of the media to reach out to the public is also very strong. The media personnel can help in providing information to the victims specifically that there are methods of help which are available and this can be employed in order to prevent the idea of cyber bullying.
The campaign of the social media is aimed at those people who are victims and who are targeted by the cyber bullies. It is the major target of the campaign to inform these people that help is available for them and also the fact that this proceeding can be stopped. This is necessary because there are many victims who do not react to the effects of cyber bullying and hence suffer from their consequences. This can be stopped by informing them how to get help at the time they are targeted and at times when they feel alone.
The campaign also tries to put forward the information that the idea of cyber bullying needs to be stopped and in order to facilitate this it needs to be understood by the individuals that there are certain pre determined characteristics of cyber bullying which need to be identified and stopped thereafter.
Segmentation and targeting:
It is desirable that the market be segmented into specific areas which include those of gender, education level, age group primarily. The target market here is majorly the children and youth as there are most prone to the concept of cyber bullying. Therefore the major contact point for the specific market is that of school and college children who are targeted with respect to the idea of cyber-bullying.
Positioning and branding:
The positioning of the campaign is quite sensitive by nature. This is due to the fact that it is possible for the people to feel disillusioned or afraid by the way in which they might be approached. Therefore it is the duty of the people to ensure that the campaign be conducted in a subtle and serious manner.
Prevention and Intervention
Key Stakeholders:
Parents:
The parents need to be involved in this program as it often happens due to the negligence of the parents towards their children. Therefore it is to be ensured that the parents be made aware of the harmful impacts of exposure to the internet of their children. In case the parents are not made aware later on they have to suffer the repercussions of their negligence by means of witnessing the sufferance of their children.
School and college authorities and teachers:
It is the schools and colleges where the students spend a majority of their time. The repercussions of cyber bullying on the school performance is also bound to be severe. Therefore the teachers need to be made aware that in case they do not warn the children it will not be possible for them to concentrate on their studies and focus on the important things in their life.
Victims:
They comprise the most important people who are being repeatedly bullied by different categories of people. This is because the main aim of the plan is to help the sufferers and be of importance to them.
Offer formulation:
Product:
The main aspect or product which is being actually sold in this particular context is that of awareness and proper behaviour. This is done to ensure that the victims gradually reduce and no one is harmed by the harmful behaviour of the evil doers.
Price:
There are several facets which can be considered in this particular regard. The situation might be very sensitive as well as emotional for the victims.
Promotion:
The promotion will be conducted by means of the social media and other news networks who agree to partner with the campaigners. This will help in reaching a wider range of people very easily.
The social media marketing plan will be conducted by means of social media and this helps in the overall knowledge gain of the victims who are being hurt or ignored. There needs to be an assurance and a reasoning provided to the victims that they will get help only in case they come out in the open and in case they share their problems with the campaigners instead of remaining in the dark about majority of situations.
The plan is to be monitored successfully and seen whether the means of advertisement and campaigns are working or not. There needs to be a careful monitoring to ensure that victims are reacting to the situation and they are coming out in the open. Only then will it be possible to infer that the plan has been successfully implemented
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Kowalski, R. M., Limber, S. P., Limber, S., & Agatston, P. W. (2012). Cyberbullying: Bullying in the digital age. John Wiley & Sons.
Notar, C. E., Padgett, S., & Roden, J. (2013). Cyberbullying: A review of the literature. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 1(1), 1-9.
Slonje, R., Smith, P. K., & FriséN, A. (2013). The nature of cyberbullying, and strategies for prevention. Computers in human behavior, 29(1), 26-32.