Quote:
Originally Posted by MMM
Sometimes insults are just insults. On these forums, I would say that is true most of the time. I would not classify most of the "you are an idiot" posts as "cyber-bullying". Sure it does happen where there are (semi)organized efforts to isolate an individual, and that may be called bullying, but I wouldn't want to dilute the seriousness of bullying by calling isolated insults "bullying".
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And yet insults are a form of abuse - a form of bullying. It's impossible to say that insults aren't bullying, seeing that's a part of the definition of bullying. To bully one person, another can physically or verbally attack or degrade each other. Insults are verbal attacks.
Even something as simple as "you are an idiot" is degrading. It implies that the person isn't intelligent, or as intelligent as the attacker. People bully in order to degrade others, so that they themselves may feel like they're in control. Even if it isn't to isolate others, as you've said the case might be, it's still a social effort to put others down.