An unfortunate side effect of becoming a more public online figure through your science communication efforts is that you may end up inadvertently a target of some undesirable online behaviours such as trolling, online bullying or harassment.
The good news is that these types of things don’t happen often. Unfortunately, however, when they do happen, they can be psychologically and emotionally draining, taking the fun out of science communication, and making you feel small. There is no way to completely eliminate the threat of online harassment, but you can do things to keep yourself as safe as possible and minimize the impact of harassment if it does occur.
- Think about how you might respond if a friend or colleague were bullied.
- Let your friends, colleagues and bosses know that you’re going to be engaging in science communication online, and though there’s a low likelihood that harassment may occur, you want to ensure you can enlist their support if something does happen.
- Familiarize yourself with the resources below, and share them with your friends, family and work colleagues.
- Don’t post pictures of your family, children, or information about your address online.
- Make use of two factor authentication (link) on as many of your online accounts as you can.
- Make use of a password manager (link) to ensure you have the strongest passwords possible for you online accounts.
- Finally, remember that if something does happen, you are not alone, and that as awareness grows about online harassment and its impacts there are more resources available to people who experience it.
If you are concerned about online bullying or harassment, check out the following resources for information and assistance:
- The Harassment website by the digital learning research group (link) Provides links to resources and information on online harassment for researchers including a simulation that allows you to think through what kind of online harassment researchers receive and what supports you may need if you experience it.
- Heartmob (link) A community working to end online harassment. There are all kinds of resources available on this site both for those experiencing online harassment and those who wish to do something to end it.
- The Crash Override Network (link) A website that provides online resources to help those who have experienced or are experiencing online abuse.
- The Cyber Civil Rights Initiative (link) A nonprofit organization that helps people who have been victims of online abuse and also works to end online abuse. Their website includes resources for both US and international victims.
- 7 cups of tea (link) This site offers free therapy with licensed therapists for those people who need a little extra emotional support.
Hopefully, you’ll never experience online bullying harassment or abuse, however if you do experience it, it’s good to know that there are resources available to help.
Now you’ve reached the end of Chapter 3. Congratulations! This was a large chapter – there’s a lot of ground to cover when looking at the multimedia world of social media communication. You’re now prepared to create content in different formats, for different platforms, and know how to handle online copyright. Finally, you’ve learned where you can turn in the unlikely event of harassment. Next, in Chapter 4, I’ll discuss best practices for presenting your research to non-academic audiences.