Are You Bullying on Social Media Without Realizing It?

Many people who harm others online do not see themselves as cruel. They often justify their behavior as correct, beneficial, or ethically and morally warranted, sometimes with a tinge of enjoyment. Online spaces can feel risky when persistent low-level provocateurs latch onto ideas. A common pattern involves baiting, refusing open dialogue, and attacking, often paired with victim claims, false accusations, personal attacks, and blame-flipping such as DARVO. Earlier views treated wrongdoing as the work of a few evil deviants, but postwar experiences and research suggest ordinary people can participate in harm under anonymity, crowd dynamics, perceived distance, and a cause framed as justice. Experiments on obedience and simulated authority illustrate how context can enable harmful behavior.

"Most people who behave cruelly online do not think of themselves as cruel, and in fact may not be especially so. Subjectively, they may be speaking from a sense of conviction, righteousness, or simply what feels like playful competition."

"Often, they believe they are doing what is best. Sometimes, there is a tinge of enjoyment, especially if justified and rationalized ethically and morally. Some days, going online feels like a risky proposition, particularly if one of the more persistent low-level proto-trolls has latched on to some idea."

"How to handle that, I've discussed in my work on BRODA, a common set of moves on socials: bait, refuse open dialogue, attack. There is often a theme of the alleged troll expressing being victimized, falsely accused, shifting to a personal register, flipping blame (DARVO), and the like."

"After WWII, when perfectly lovely neighbors turned a blind eye, or worse, the explanation became less clear, more troubling, and easy to ignore. More people than we'd like to imagine, under conditions like anonymity, can slip into everyday evil: given a crowd, perceived distance from the target, and a cause that makes the attack feel like justice."

Read at Psychology Today