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cyberbullying tactics

Cyberbullying Tactics: 9 Common Tricks of Cyber-Bullies and Trolls

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TheyDo you want to know all the cyberbullying tactics so that you can better protect yourself against cyberbullies? cyberbullying tactics

Cyberbullying can be bullying of the most devastating kind and for anyone of any age- children, teens, and adults alike. If you’re a victim of this insidious form of bullying, you are doing all the research you can to find out all the cyberbullying tactics.

As someone who’s been there myself, I’m giving you the seven most-used cyberbullying tactics you need to be aware of.

You are going to learn all the tactics cyberbullies use.

After you learn about all the most-used cyberbullying tactics, you will be wise to cyberbullies and will better be able to protect yourself against them. Moreover, you will also be able to gather your own evidence against them and get rid of them once and for all.

This post is all about the cyberbullying tactics cyberbullies use to help you gather your evidence, stand against them, and overcome cyberbullies and internet trolls.

Cyberbullying Tactics

Before we go any further, let’s explore what cyberbullying is and how it negatively affects lives.

Cyberbullying is the most malicious and dangerous form of bullying there is. This is because attacks are seen by a much wider audience, and there’s a high degree of anonymity as cyberbullies are cowards and hide behind fake screen names and profiles to avoid exposure.

With that said…

Here are the 7 most common cyberbullying tactics:

1. Flaming: Inboxing you with a barrage of insidious messages.

Again, cyberbullies are cowards who fear being detected for the sick creeps they are. So, they use your private message inbox to unleash their vitriol onto you. Even if you delete the person from your friends’ list, they can still flame you through the inbox.

Many cyberbullies think that you will be so overly emotional that you won’t think to take a screenshot of the message. Therefore, they will be emboldened to keep this up until you properly handle the situation, which I will show you how later in this post.

However, here’s something you must NEVER do:

Never react to the vile messages by sending evil messages of your own. In other words, don’t call the cyberbullies names even if they start out name-calling you. Do not react by cursing the cyberbully out or use all caps, which is read as yelling.

The cyberbullies will only use your reaction against you. Remember that they want you to react so that they can turn it around on you and make you look like the troll. Don’t give them that opportunity!

Therefore, the best response is either no response at all or an intelligent response. If you’re going to respond, respond with something to the tune of, “You seem so angry,” or, “I’m sorry you feel that way.”

These are perfect responses because you aren’t taking the blame for their behavior. Also, it doesn’t make you sound like you’re bullying anyone.

2. Cyberbullies will tag you in a post, then claim you’re stalking their page.

This happened to me once. Although this is rather obvious (or should be) to others, this tactic is used by dumber and maybe drunk cyberbullies.

Therefore, screenshot this. In fact, screenshot everything.

3. They rally their friends to troll your page.

Once you hit the “Block” button, watch for an influx of friend requests from people you don’t know or who would otherwise never in a million years “friend” you. This almost always happens just after you’ve blocked a cyberbully.

4. Cyberbullies will troll the pages of your spouse, family, and friends.

 They do this to seek and gather information about you and those you’re closest to, which is then used as either ammunition to defame you, make fun of you, or to attack those you love.

Cyberbullies who are mentally sick and dangerous will use this tactic. Don’t let this scare you, but do be concerned.

5. Cyberbullying tactics: Creating hurtful, degrading, and humiliating memes of you.

Cyberbullies do this to intimidate, embarrass you, and to bait others to harass you. Again, screenshot this as you would incendiary messages and everything else they throw at you.

6. They have others (or they do it themselves) to insert images of porn and other disgusting materials onto your timeline.

Cyberbullies do this to cause you embarrassment. Moreover, they do this hoping that others will see it and think you’re some kind of pervert.

In most cases, this doesn’t work. However, you must still make screenshots. This is how you do your own investigation and gather your own evidence.

7. Cyberbullies will copy your profile photo and create duplicate and fake profiles in your name, claiming to be you.

Next, they send requests to all your family, friends, and associates to bait them to accept.

Once the requests have been accepted, the cyberbully then sends your associates deplorable messages or tags them and posts flaming or lewd posts to their timelines in hopes of causing friction between you and the people you care about.

Therefore, it’s up to you to warn your family and friends about what’s been going on. Also, you must tell them that if they get any duplicate friend requests from you, it isn’t you sending it. This is so important!

Sadly, there isn’t much anyone can do legally until better technology is introduced to track down these vile bullies, and more robust laws are passed against this practice.

8. cyberbullying tactics: lies and accusations

Cyberbullies will also post lies and accusations about you on social media and public forums. Therefore, they sully your good name and reputation, killing opportunities of all kinds. Moreover, if you own a business, your profits could take a huge hit.

Understand that this is a way for cyberbullies to cause you to become a victim of cancel culture. This has ruined many lives and families.

I can’t stress the importance of gathering your own evidence. This is not the time to be lazy!

9. They dox you.

Doxxing is when cyberbullies and trolls gather your personal information. They can get access to your street address, phone number, email, and worse, your driver’s license and banking information.

Other information they may access is where you work, where your children go to school, and who your parents are and their addresses. Scary, isn’t it?

Next, they will post it all online and even on the dark web to cause you to be harassed. Also, this can cause you to become a victim of identity theft.

Doxxing is the most dangerous form of cyberbullying there is!

Here are the best ways to bust a cyberbully.

I always use a method I call the SBRE method: Screenshot, Block, Report, Expose!

For this method to work best, you must perform it in this exact order!

1. Screenshot.

Out them! Expose them by taking screenshots of their profiles and of the nasty messages they send you. Screenshot every message or vile comment.

Also, screenshot every cruel meme. In short, screenshot everything.

Then plaster them all over the internet. Hey, they asked for it. So, put them on blast. Exposure is the best way to shut these idiots down.

Delete the incendiary posts or comments but keep the screenshots stored in a folder.

2. Combat Cyberbullying tactics:

BLOCK.

If the cyberbullies happen to be on your friends or follower lists, you don’t need them in your life- or stalking your page. Get rid of them!

Also, the sooner you block the creeps, the less likely they are to send you a virus or get access to any sensitive information.

Therefore, after you get all the screenshots you need (only you can judge whether you have enough evidence), block them.

3. Report.

Report the cyberbullies to the social media outlet. Every social media entity has this option. Use it. They may or may not do anything about it.

However, there will still be a record. Once you report the person, take a screenshot of your report and the response you get from the social media outlet.

4. expose.

Remember that a cyberbully’s worse fear is being exposed. Make their worst fears come true. Expose them by plastering the screenshots all over the internet.

You not only do this to spare your reputation and protect yourself. But you also expose the cyberbullies to protect others from being trolled by them.

And trust me! Other users will thank you for it!

This bears repeating! Always take screenshots and save any online bullying evidence because you never know when you might need them for litigation. If by chance, you find the true identities of your cyberbullies (this is easier than you think), you can more successfully pursue litigation.

Understand that this may take a little bit of work. However, it will be so worth it in the long run.If other tricks have been used against you and that I have left out, please feel free to comment.

This post was all about the most common cyberbullying tactics that cyberbullies use to help you to better protect yourself.

Related posts you’ll enjoy:

1. Signs of Gaslighting: The 7 Signs You Must Know

2. Setting Boundaries: 3 Powerful Practices to Hold Your Ground

3. Acceptance and Tolerance: 5 Best Ways to Know the Difference

4. Signs of Toxic People: 5 Tell-Tale Indicators

5. Conditioning: 5 Signs You’re Being Conditioned

Being Predictable Is Bad for Targets of Bullying

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Chess board and text “Strategic plan” Business planning concept

Being unpredictable can be your best weapon against bullies. Anytime you are predictable in a climate of bullying, you’re a sitting duck. Bullies will soon know what gets you upset, what will get you to fly off the handle and do something irrational and how to sabotage you socially and academically. You must be versatile if you expect to throw the bullies off-kilter.

Predictability is human nature. People are creatures of habit and have a need to see familiarity in the actions of others. If you’re a target of bullying, any predictability on your part will give your bullies the idea that they have control of you.

Understand that the reason bullies have so much power over you is that you’re too darn predictable. You make it too easy for them to predict what you’ll do. Because they’ve studied and picked up on your habits, they have the foreknowledge of what your reaction will be. And they’ll weaponize it every chance they get!

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But when you flip the script and begin deliberately exhibiting behavior that has no consistency and no objectives, you automatically throw your bullies for a loop! Take your unpredictable behavior up several notches and bullies will be intimidated.

Now. Before I go on, let me mention that here’s one good thing about your predictability- you’ve gotten your bullies so used to your patterns that you’ve lulled them off to sleep, which will make any versatility on your part all the more powerful once you start deliberately changing your reactions to their attacks.

So, here goes:

If you’re a target of bullying, you want to make it look you have no clear strategy. You must scramble your behavior patterns and your reactions to confuse the bullies if you want them to back off. And when you do, not only will it confuse them, it’ll scare the stupid out of them!

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I’ll use a scenario with one of my old classmates as an example:

Just two years ago, Carol, one of my old classmates, attacked me online after she found out that I was collaborating with a producer out of New York on a screenplay adaptation of my first published book.

Let me start by saying that we hadn’t seen each other since high school. Back then, I was quiet, shy and timid girl, but with a hair-trigger temper when I was pushed too far. That’s how Carol had remembered me.

And had she verbally attacked me back then, I either would’ve walked away from her without saying anything back to her, or, on a bad day, I would’ve fought fire with fire- screaming back at her, cursing her out and calling her every name but a child of God.

This time, I did neither. As you’ll see in the screenshots below, I reacted in a way she never expected me to.

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Carol expected me to fly off the handle, have a moment of sheer stupidity, and counter-attack with the same vitriol and craziness she dished out to me first. Then she could have used my counter-attack against me and made me look like the instigator. That’s exactly what she had plans to do, and I knew it.

However!

Instead of reacting, I responded.

I remained calm and told her how it was without name-calling, without cursing, and without using all caps. And boy! Did it throw her into a hissy fit! Carol literally FREAKED! ‘Had a complete meltdown online as she sent me hateful message after hateful message. I happily took screenshots and outed her all over social media before finally blocking her.

By reacting in a way I knew she never expected, I threw her off balance and not only instilled fear, but induced panic and rage in her. I shook her up so much so that she couldn’t think clearly nor rationally. She stumbled, making blunder after blunder.

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In being unpredictable, I forced her to give me the goods I needed to expose her with. She fell face-first into the trap I calmly laid for her, and I have to admit. Outsmarting her felt soooo good! Carol played right into my hands and didn’t realize her mistake until after she’d calmed down. But by then, it was too late. Carol had made herself look like a complete lunatic and had I acted as she had, I would’ve looked just as nutty as she did.

‘You see? When you deliberately respond in ways your bullies don’t expect, you throw them off-kilter and force them to react out of fear, confusion, even anger. And when a person reacts out of pure emotion, they make a truckload of mistakes, blunders, and gaffes, then end up making a colossal fool of themselves.

Even better, after I exposed Carol online, many other old classmates, out of loyalty to her, came to her defense and attacked me the same way she had. Although they knew that she was in the wrong and that she’d attacked me without provocation, their loyalty to their old high school buddy was much stronger than their sense of right and wrong.

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Carol’s, brother, sister and son also joined in the vitriol. They even went to the pages of my husband and my son and attacked them too. Carol’s allies didn’t private message them but went to their public pages where all could see. In doing this, they also exposed themselves for the idiots they were while we sat back and laughed.

That’s what reacting out of emotion does. It causes us to make dumb mistakes.

Needless to say, after I exposed them (or they exposed themselves) those people backed off quickly and I never heard from them again. Neither did my family. They now stay far away because they were surprised to find that I’m nowhere near as naïve as I was in high school. I stayed calm and was smart enough to deflect their attacks and use them against them.

Again. Understand that by doing something unexpected, you gain a huge advantage over your bullies. And when bullies can’t figure out what you’re going to do, it scares them to death and they’ll almost always react out of fear!

Nothing is more frightening than when you make a move nobody would ever expect. It’s the reason natural disasters are so scary because no one knows when and where they’ll hit next. It’s why deer hunters can track down their prey and kill them. They know the habits and patterns of behavior of the deer they hunt.

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Realize that habits and patterns are the worst things that go against a target of bullying because bullies pick up on your routines and use them against you.

In closing, you must learn to unsettle your bullies by allowing them to see you do things they’d never expect. If a bully launches an attack, you should counter-attack suddenly, without warning, in a way they’d wouldn’t expect you to, and when they least expect it.

You must purposefully mislead your bullies to trick them into an emotional reaction!

If you’re going to be predictable, don’t stay that way. Do it for long enough that your bullies get used to your patterns and are lulled into a false sense of security, then strike suddenly with something unexpected! And that’s how you get them to leave you alone!