Samantha MacInnes

Mr. Newman
English 101: Rhetoric
08 October 2014
Say Hello to the New Bullies: Cyberbullies
*Ding.* Phones and computers everywhere just went off; some have family and friends telling
them positives things and having conversations, but others are getting another insult to the point
theyve run out of tears. Cyberbullying can occur anywhere there is an active internet
connection. Many people, mainly students, are affected by cyberbullying in many different ways.
Cyberbullying occurs when people use the internet as a shield of anonymity to pick on others.
This has taken over bullying face to face in places such as high schools and middle schools and
less is able to be done about it. In the article, "How to Stop the Bullies" by Emily Bazelon in The
Atlantic on March of 2013, she successfully uses pathos to inform readers on cyberbullying and
how to fix it.
Bazelon article successfully uses pathos to inform readers on cyberbullying. Her article
discuses one event in a Middletown, Connecticut middle school called Woodrow Wilson Middle
School. The school had someone who started an anonymous Facebook page that pinned people
against each other and also made fun of people. Without getting in trouble the owner of the
website, which is presumed to be a female, had the power to needle kids into ending friendships
and starting feuds and fistfights. The creator of the Facebook page pin girls against each other
in an event where other peers judge and comment on WHOS PRETTIERRR?! Some incidents
almost led to blows after school between two guys and many female disputes. Within months
of starting this anonymous website people were getting hurt and hurting each other while this

person that just sits in the shadows laughing and being an antagonist. One counselor in the
school that many students went to complaining, bragging, or just talking about this page, sent
complaints into Facebook. Weeks went by where the page continued to stay up and running;
continuing to hurt people. Another complaint was sent into Facebook and still the page remained.
Bazelon after doing her report of the school went to the engineer, Arturo Bejar to get more
information on what happens to complaints after they are made. With the number of complaints
Facebook receives, Bazelon noticed it takes the people that go through posts less than 2 seconds
to decide if the post is appropriate or not. The engineer explained that Facebook does not have
an algorithm that could determine at the outset whether a post was meant to harass or disturb.
There are though people who are making an algorithm to help social media such as Facebook
with bullying problems.
Bazelon article successfully uses pathos to inform readers on how to stop cyberbullying.
Someone who is formulating an algorithm is, Henry Lieberman, who was bullied as a kid.
Lieberman saw news stories that brought him back into the time he was bullied is what inspired
to make the site, BullySpace. BullySpace is a repository of words and phrases that could be
paired with an algorithm to comb through the text and spot bullying situations. The site looks at
words such as lipstick and recognizes that the stereotype is that lipstick is for females; so if
lipstick is aimed toward a guy, [p]ut on...lipstick and be who you really are, would pop up for
bullying against gays and transsexuals. After the website flags the problem, it is sent for human
review. The process would cut half the reports out and also help the people looking through to
figure out how the phrase could be potentially threatening. The website still has problems where
not all types of bullying is registered, but Lieberman and his team of graduate students constantly
are working to improve the accuracy of the analysis.

With the use of pathos is used by Bazelon to inform readers on cyberbullying and how to
stop it. Different people, personal interviews, and events were used to convict emotion in
readers, so the readers are able to become more informed on cyberbullying. The author
successfully informed her readers on cyberbullying; with her information those people who sent
those messages know what they are doing is more than just harmless fun and people can feel
better knowing there are people who fight against it and are making solutions to ease
cyberbullying.

Works Cited
Bazelon, Emily. "How to Stop Bullies." The Atlantic. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2014.