Mar 28th, 2007
Revenge of the Nerds
In the new digital age, nerds are the new bullies. In the wake of Kathy Sierra’s death threats, this is an interesting study.
Preliminary results from the research show so-called computer geeks are becoming the new schoolyard bullies. Final results of the study, which will be completed in June, are expected to be published in the autumn.
“Traditional bullying is a power differential,” Mishna said in an interview.
“The power before could have been age, size, smartness, popularity, ability. Now it’s the perceived anonymous nature. We’d like to find out how anonymous it really is. The power now is you can put it all over (the place).”
The focus groups also revealed victims refuse to tell an adult about the abuse because they fear they will be punished in order to be protected.
“They’re scared that their parents will take away their computer privileges,” Mishna said.
Read: Schoolgirls bullied into stripping online - Yahoo! News