Email this page to a friend with a personal messageMost of us adults tend to think that things like online stalking and harassment happen to other people, people who are different from us somehow or who aren't as smart as us. But the truth of the matter is that online stalking and harassment can happen to any one of us, no matter who we are or how smart we are. But the good news is that even if online stalking and harassment can happen to any one of us there are certain things that we can do to avoid online stalking and harassment and the best thing is that it is actually really easy to do. Most of what you need to do to avoid becoming a victim of online stalking and harassment is to use some common sense.
Difficulty rating: Easy
Step one:
The first thing that you are going to need to do is to not post any type of personal information about yourself online that you don't want strangers to know. Many people who belong to places like dating websites and chat rooms tend to post very little information and the information that they do post is usually not true, meaning they use a false name so that you can't get much personal information from them. So before deciding on what personal information you will be posting, you want to make sure that it is information that you feel comfortable sharing with strangers.
Step two:
The next thing that you need to do to avoid becoming a victim of online stalking or harassment is to remember not to respond to any kind of flamings. Basically flamings are any kind of scolding or verbal abuse that happens online; the stalker or harasser is baiting you by saying mean and provocative things. If you avoid responding to these postings you are not adding fuel to the fire nor are you validating the potential abuser's existence.
Step three:
The next thing that you are going to need to do to make sure that you avoid online stalking and harassment is to be proactive rather than being passive. What this means is to take action if you are having any kind of bad experiences rather than ignoring the situation. If somebody makes any kind of mean or threatening remarks in a chat room or on a message board about you or anybody else, what you need to do is to report them and what they have said to the moderator, forums' administrator or webmaster as soon as you notice what they have said.
Step four:
Something else that you need to do so that you can avoid any type of online stalking and harassment is to ignore that kind of behavior. What this basically means is that if you are confronted by a stalker or harasser in a chat room or on a message board you are going to need to ignore them, do not respond to them at all. The reason for this is that by acknowledging them you are baiting them and giving them more power and the satisfaction that they are getting to you. If you find the situation getting more hostile then your best bet is to log out of the chat room and go surf somewhere else or to log off the Internet completely.
One of the best things about avoiding online stalking and harassment is that it is usually accomplished in the same way as protecting yourself from online stalking and harassment, except that when it comes to protecting yourself there are a few more steps that you need to take to make sure that your computer is secure. Basically with avoiding online stalking and harassment you are trying to stay away from certain situations that can cause online stalking and harassment.
