Online harassment and gas lighting are fearful experiences that many of us struggle to speak in public. I recently got verbally abused, threatened, and harassed on Facebook for posting an ad in Facebook Marketplace. My initial feelings were shame and fear. I hid from the social media. I discussed with close friends. Finally, when I researched resources on online bullying, I came across more articles that highlighted similar issues in Facebook market place.
I'm sharing my experience here because getting harassed online is terrifying and harmful actions of cyber bullying are NEVER OKAY. No one has to go through it alone. I hope my post can help others with similar issues express their honest emotions without shame or fear.
Dec 17, 2021 : I posted about a room rental in Facebook market place. A few people messaged me to inquire more details. Few others did not like the price I had quoted. They started abusing me in comments and when I turned off commenting on my post, they flooded me with direct messages in Facebook Market Place that included verbal abuse of me and my cat and some threatening statements that shook my day.
I reported a few of those messages and deleted the post (if I were to do it again, I would leave it there for documentation). After I reported a few posts that involved negative, harmful content, I discovered Fb locked my account.
Cyber bullying is a common experience. Common advice is to ignore it (personal experience). Although there is an option to block people in case of harassment, if this event involves not merely an individual, but a group of strangers, it is not trivial to track down every profile and block them.
I firmly believe any form of bullying/harassment that leaves a traumatic footprint in us is worth bringing to light, so it can motivate others to share their stories about online bullying. Our emotions matter!
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