Isn’t there always that one shady person in your social group who constantly picks on you for no reason at all? Yes?

Either it’s your runny nose, your higher grades, or perhaps your very existence that bothers them. Like slimy sleuths, they dig out information on you just so they could blackmail you with it, unleashing a boatload of mental torment on you. And ironically, the very internet space you use to freely express yourself on social media is slyly used by them to victimize you.

We’ve all seen real-life bullies before. But it’s very different and doubly hard to deal with a cyberbully, who runs his/her operations discreetly from behind their silent screens, using words as their weapons.

However, fear ye not!

Certainly, there are ways to beat the waves of online shaming, personal targeting, and cruel pinching. All you need to do is channel your inner strength and follow through the points mentioned below!

1.  Choose a Secure Connection

This is by far the most important point to take into consideration – thus the first thing in the list – when you are choosing an internet connection go for the one that offers online safety. AT&T internet doesn’t just offer you a good connection but also a valid online security suite to keep you protected at all costs.

An antivirus system and a security suite will help keep the hackers from extracting information regarding you that they could use to blackmail you later on.

2.  Take the Talking Cure:

How do you make cyberbullies happy? By lending an ear to their abuses and taking them seriously. That’s exactly what they want, for you to be socially paralyzed.

So, staying silent and stoic won’t really help anyone. You need to open up and TALK about the abuse that’s leveled your way. If you’re afraid of being judged and deemed weak, you’ll never make your way out of the tar-like depression. Be courageous and speak up!

Talking about something makes it a thousand times easier to tackle. Believe me!

3.  Don’t Fight Fire with Fire:

On some level, it might be extremely tempting for you to bully the bully itself. To make personal attacks, offensive comments and humiliating posts in retaliation. But remember, you can never beat fire with fire, you’d only rouse it instead of dousing it.

You vanquish fire with water.

Stay cool in the face of the online assault, and deal with it rationally. Talk to someone and properly plan your steps.

4.  Double Up Your Defense:

Ever wonder how cyber bullies get hold of your personal stuff? By hacking your online profiles and manipulating your private information.

What can you do to stop them in their tracks?

You can fortify your social media accounts by setting up enigmatic and unpredictable passwords. Restricting your privacy settings can surely prevent hackers from accessing your stuff. You can also keep yourself updated on CenturyLink promotions to avail of the latest anti-spyware offers.

5.  Set Up Blocks:

The best way to upstage cyberbullies without resorting to their nasty tricks is by blocking them from your online profiles. Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms do offer such an option to their users.

Simply click on that ‘block’ button and make that bully cry out in frustration when he/she can’t even locate your account in the search bar, let alone maneuver it.

6.  Maintain Evidence:

If your cyberbully can be a dirty sleuth, you can be a daring detective too, as a countermeasure of course. You can keep track of all the terrible slandering and extortions directed at you by taking and saving screenshots on your mobiles. This will give you a significant edge in bringing that bully down!

7.  Report to Authorities:

The last step in eradicating cyberbullying is reaching the authorities and informing them of the whole matter, along with the proper evidence. It will be up to them to prosecute the said bully using their advanced methods, and to make sure that nothing like this ever happen again!

Sadly, cyberbullying is a widespread phenomenon in today’s tech-oriented world. But that does not mean that it can be allowed to go on and make people’s lives miserable.

Don’t be afraid to speak against it! To reach out to other victims and help them fight! To nip the digital bullying right in the bud!