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CYBER MOBBING: HOW ONLINE CROWDS TURN CRUEL (AND WHO'S BEHIND IT)
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[Music]
Hi everyone, I'm Dr. Peter Serno, doctor
of psychology, retired psychotherapist,
and specialist in personality disorders
and pathological abuse. In this video,
I'm going to talk about a disturbing
trend that is becoming all too common,
cyber mobbing. And I want to be clear,
this is not just mean comments or online
drama. It's a coordinated, sustained,
and destructive attack on an individual.
The damage is not just emotional. It can
affect reputations, careers,
relationships, and even lives. By the
end of this video, you'll know what
cyber mobbing actually is, why it's so
psychologically damaging, the kinds of
personalities who fuel these mobs,
realworld examples you'll probably
recognize, and what you can do whether
you are a potential target or a witness.
Because the reality is, if you're
online, this could happen to you or
Cyber mobbing is grouped driven online
harassment. It's not just one person
being cruel. It's many people uniting,
often strangers, to attack, discredit,
or socially destroy someone. It involves
repetitive targeting over days, weeks,
months, and even years. Group
coordination in public comment threads
or private chats. And amplification,
reposting, tagging to escalate
hostility. It's a form of bullying, but
unlike traditional bullying, it has no
physical boundaries. It can reach you anytime,
anytime, anywhere.
anywhere. Here
Here
are a few examples of cyber mobbing. A
professional posts research online. A
small group disagrees. Then they rally
others to call the professional out.
Overnight, hundreds of strangers attack,
misquote, and insult them. This actually
happened to me recently, and I'll get
into the details later on in this video
because it is relevant. Another example
is a teenager makes an awkward joke.
Screenshots spread. Now there are memes,
mocking videos, and thousands of
strangers piling on. A third example is
a celebrity getting harassed in public.
They get shoved, mobbed, and screamed
at. Clips are twisted and distorted to
make the celebrity look like they are
ungrateful to fans. The mob doesn't wait
for any evidence. They demand punishment
and they justify their lies. There's
this idea that if you're in the
spotlight or if you post something and
expose yourself to social media that
you're somehow asking for it. But this
isn't true. Being in the spotlight does
not mean asking for harassment. Those
The mental toll of cyber mobbing is
serious and measurable. It can result in
acute stress including hypervigilance,
insomnia and other physical health
problems, symptoms of anxiety and
depression, social withdrawal or isolation
isolation
due to fear of further attack.
Reputational damage even when the
accusations are false and in some severe
cases suicidal thoughts or ideation.
Your brain processes intense public humiliation
humiliation
the way it processes physical pain. And
So who engages in cyber mobbing? There
are certain personalities that are more
likely to initiate and escalate cyber
mobbing. Malignant narcissists crave
control and they actually enjoy the
public humiliation of others. They find
a way to frame it as justice.
Individuals with psychopathic traits who
have no empathy or remorse. They enjoy
chaos and destruction for sport.
Individuals with cluster B personality
traits in general, who act impulsively
when they feel slighted and who use
emotional storytelling to fuel outrage.
Aside from personalities that are more
pathological in nature, there are some
opportunistic bystanders who engage in
cyber mobbing as well. They're not
disordered, but they may join in for
likes, approval, validation because
maybe they have felt hurt by something
or they're defensive about something
that someone posted. Sometimes they tell
themselves that they're just joining in
on the conversation and maybe they
genuinely mistakenly believe that they
are contributing to some positive cause,
but it can still cause damage. These are
more rare occasions when individuals who
are decent people engage in this and
when confronted respectfully, they will
typically collaborate to resolve the
One of the key motivators of cyber
mobbing is something that I touch on in
another video called self-righteous
justification. For many individuals with
cluster B personality traits,
disagreement isn't about ideas. They
frame themselves as the morally superior
party and the other person as ignorant,
malicious, or defective. You'll see this
in online discussions or arguments where
it stopped being about the facts and got
distorted into a conversation about who
There are a few forces that make cyber
mobs possible. One is something called
de-individuation. Basically, for a lot
of people, the sense of anonymity online
lowers moral restraint. Another is group
justification. people feel more
justified in engaging in something
sometimes when a lot of other people are
doing the same thing. And then another
reason has to do with algorithms and
amplification. Conflict is typically
rewarded and drama is entertaining for a
If you're a witness to this, something
that we can all do, myself included, is
to pause before we post a comment.
Everyone is susceptible to being
activated by something they see online.
So, we need to pause and ask ourselves,
does this comment help or harm? Next,
check the facts before sharing. It
amazes me how many people refuse to
check the facts. Their confirmation bias
and their belief perseverance take over
and they simply refuse to investigate
whether something is accurate. My social
media accounts are dedicated to hard
scientific data. That's what I like to
talk about. That's what I like to
research. But I do look at the opposing
side of these arguments. And my argument
and perspective is actually strengthened
and valid when I take the time to look
at the counterarguments. That's good
science. It's good research. It's
responsible. It's critical thinking. And
it helps reduce confirmation bias. And
then the last thing to consider as a
witness of this is maybe support victims
of this privately if you can by sending
them a direct message. If you are a
target of cyber mobbing, there are some
things that you can do to protect
yourself. One, document the evidence.
Take screenshots of the correspondence
in order so that you have proof that is
factual and accurate. Sometimes these
people who engage in cyber mobs will
leave a comment on for a while, but then
they'll delete it so there's no
evidence. So take screenshots of these
things so you have evidence. You can
mute or restrict people. You can block
them and you can take some breaks from
social media which oftent times are
needed after you've been on the
receiving end of cyber mobbing. Another
thing that's important to do is lean on
offline support. And then in severe
cases because this form of harassment
can result in defamation of character.
You might need to seek legal help. And
if you feel like this has been extremely
damaging to where it's interfering with
your life, mental health support is
something that you should also consider
seeking out. I have been mobbed myself
on numerous occasions due to what some
people consider the controversial nature
of the content that I post. It typically
starts when people interpret the science
that I share as somehow invalidating
their personal experiences. The reality
is two things can be true. You can have
your personal experience and science can
show that that personal experience is
not universal. But mobs thrive on black
and white all or nothing thinking. This
is not about disagreement.
My accounts are safe spaces for people
to engage in conversation, including
respectful disagreement. Disagreement is
fine and welcome. Defamation is not. In
some cases, I've chosen to take the
posts down. The bullies won. And
unfortunately, this is how important
Mobs may believe they are seeking
justice. In reality, they're often angry
because evidence challenges their
beliefs. When confirmation bias kicks
in, cruelty feels justified for these
individuals. They think they're fighting
for what's right, but they are really
Some final thoughts about cyber mobbing.
It isn't just the internet being the
internet. It's psychological violence.
Every mob is made up of individuals and
every individual has a choice whether or
not they are going to harass somebody or
whether they are going to respect
someone. Thank you for watching. I'm Dr.
Peter Serno and I will see you in the
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