Kadijah Johnson

Ramsey Mathews
ENC 2135
27 January 2016
Bad Netiquette
Cyberbullying has become a major issue in todays society with the onset and frequent
use of social media sites. Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place using electronic technology.
Electronic technology are devices and equipment such as cell phones, computers, and tablets as
well as communication tools including social media sites, text messages, chat, and websites
("What Is Cyberbullying"). Not every child is taught social media etiquette and this has led to
the misuse of social media and other communication tools as a means to bully other social media
users. Some examples of cyberbullying include malicious text messages or emails, rumors sent
by email or posted on social networking sites, and embarrassing pictures, videos, websites, or
fake profiles ("What Is Cyberbullying").
Although social media sites can be used in a positive way, there are times in which social
media sites and other communication tools can be detrimental to children. Individuals who are
cyberbullied tend to be more likely to use drugs and alcohol, skip school, receive poor grades,
experience in-person bullying, have lower self-esteem, and have more health problems. Since
cyberbullying has become such a large issue, there has been an increase in efforts made to spread
awareness of cyberbullying and to decrease bad netiquette. There are several genres created to
put a stop to cyberbullying and to bring awareness to the situation.
Cyber-bullying movies are a genre of cyber-bullying prevention. This essay will focus on
the movie, Cyberbully. There are a number of other movies that were created around the idea of
cyberbullying, however, this movie was the first movie to actually bring light to cyberbullying as
a serious issue. Cyberbully was a television movie that premiered on ABC Family on July 17,
2011. ABC Family collaborated with Seventeen Magazine to make the film ("Cyberbully (2011
Film)"). The plot of the film is centered on a teenage girl, Taylor, who is being raised by her

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single mother and older brother. She has two very close friends and one of them betrays her
when she makes a fake profile of a boy named James who supposedly likes Taylor. The fake
profile of this boy James then goes onto a social site called Cliquesters and creates a rumor
that he and Taylor had sex. Taylor is then bullied on both social media and in school about this
rumor. She becomes so overcome with depression that she makes an attempt to commit suicide
by overdosing on a bottle of pills. After Taylors attempt is unsuccessful, her mother takes
control by bringing attention to the school board and state legislation to prevent others from
going through the same problem as her daughter ("Cyberbully (2011 Film)"). This genre focuses
on purpose, rhetorical appeals, and style to appeal to its audience.
Cyberbully was created with hopes to delete digital drama ("Cyberbully (2011 Film)").
The purpose of this movie was to both persuade and to tell a story. Cyberbully told a story
because a visual mode was created to explain a narrative. Additionally, Cyberbully was used as a
persuasion piece. The persuasiveness in the movie was quite implicit, however, the movie was
used to persuade its audience against cyberbullying. This persuasion was done through the use of
rhetorical appeals.
The rhetorical appeal used to persuade the audience in Cyberbully is pathos. Cyberbully
appeals to the audiences emotions and values by making the film extremely emotional. For
instance, the audience of the movie can become emotionally attached and sympathize with the
scene where the teenage girl attempts to commit suicide through the overdose of pills. Anyone
who is against suicide will instantly understand the effects of cyberbullying and will support
anti-cyberbullying campaigns.
Style is another genre element used in the movie Cyberbully. Cyberbully was designed to
have a serious tone because the topic of cyberbullying is taken as more serious and thoughtful by
the audience. If the film had been presented in a humorous way, it would not have had the same
effect. The seriousness of the film added to the persuasion that it provided for the audience.

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As bullying has become a more prevalent issue, many people are coming together to help
stop bullying. The STOMP Out Bullying organization is a genre of cyberbullying. STOMP
Out Bullying is the leading national anti-bullying and cyberbullying organization for the kids
and teens in the United States. This genre focuses mainly on purpose and audience.
STOMP Out Bullying concentrates on raising awareness of bullying prevention. They
aim to educate kids, teens, parents, and schools on the issue of bullying. This organization is
most known for its annual Blue Shirt Day World Day of Bullying Prevention. The annual Blue
Shirt Day deals with a visual style because it uses people wearing blue to showcase bullying
prevention. Blue Shirt Day offers hope to bullying victims, teaches parents and administrators
how to be aware of the signs of bullying and educates them on how create a safe communication
zone. The audience of STOMP Out Bullying and Blue Shirt Day are people in the world who
are unaware of the issue of bullying and cyber-bullying. Another audience could be parents,
administrators, and victims who want to become more aware of what can be done on their part to
help stop bullying. Finally, bullies themselves could be an audience to Blue Shirt Day because
if they see all these people wearing blue shirts on one specific day then they may start to realize
how big of an issue bullying and cyberbullying really is. This might, in turn, show the bullies the
destructiveness in their behavior.
Personal stories are another genre of cyber-bullying. They depict stories from real-life
bullying victims. There are many narratives of bullying that can be found, however, only two
will be discussed in this paper. The first story focuses on fifteen year-old Audrie. Audrie found
herself in a situation of underage drinking at a party. While under the influence, she was raped by
three boys she knew. After the assault, the boys took pictures of her and posted them on the
Internet. Audrie lived in fear and shame for eight days until she finally decided to commit

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suicide. Her parents were completely unaware of the situation until after Audries suicide ("Three
Real Life Bullying Stories|NoBullying|").
The second story comes from an ex-bully who is now a bully victim. Haley was in the
sixth grade when she became a bully. She would beat people up and call them names until she
saw a girl she had bullied cutting herself from something that Haley had said to her. Haley no
longer wanted to be a bully after seeing that, but the tables turned. She is now the bullying
victim. She has been cutting herself and close to suicide for nearly three years now. The bullying
has yet to cease ("STOMP Out Bullying").
Both of these stories fixate on rhetorical appeals, purpose, style, and audience. The mode
of this genre is media or technology based. Pathos is the most apparent rhetorical appeal found in
this genre. The pain and emotion in these stories appeal to the audiences own feelings and
emotions. The second bullying story discussed is written in first-person, which connects to ethos.
The author of this memoir makes her story more credible with the use of the word I. This word
usage relays to the audience that Haley actually experienced the event in the story. Furthermore,
the purpose of these short memoirs relates to its rhetorical appeals. These stories are meant to
bring awareness to cyber-bullying and help prevent it through the cooperation of its audience.
Both of these short memoirs are written in serious tones to denote the severity of the subject.
Also, both are written informally to reach out to other teens and children and help them to
understand why cyber-bullying must be stopped. The audience of this genre could be anyone
because the issue of bullying is so large that it wants to reach out to society as a whole. However,
the main audience can be restricted to bullies, parents, other bullying victims, and educators.
Interactive websites are another genre that deal with cyber-bullying prevention.
Stopbullying.gov is the website that will be discussed in this paper. Stopbullying.gov is an
interactive website focused on cyber-bullying and bullying. This website provides information
on what bullying/cyberbullying is, who is at risk for to be bullied, how to prevent it, and ways to

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respond to bullying ("What Is Cyberbullying"). Furthermore, Stopbullying.gov features blogs

and provides ways to get help. The mode of this website is in a technology or web-based form.
The success of this website can be attributed to its purpose, audience, and rhetorical appeals.
Stopbullying.gov serves a couple of purposes. This website serves an informational
purpose because it gives researched news, facts, and statistics on bullying. Stopbullying.gov is
also an outlet for people who dont know how to handle bullying, dont know what to do about
it, or how to stop it. Logos and pathos are the two main rhetorical appeals found in this genre.
This website supplies statistics and facts about bullying and cyber-bullying, which is the logos
aspect because it graphically displays the connection between the statistics and the point that
cyberbullying is a major issue in society. Pathos is accomplished through the blogs displayed on
this website along with the videos and stories. Similarly to the real-life stories, the blogs and
stories help its audience identify with the issue of bullying more because they get to read and see
first-hand accounts. Finally, Stopbullying.gov has a wide spread audience because it is so easily
accessible. The audience of this genre is anyone who stumbles upon this website or even those
who Google information about bullying. Another audience could be bully victims because the
website gives various ways that victims can get help and allows victims to express their own
stories on their accounts of bullying. The final audience could be bullies themselves because the
website might force them to see how terrible bullying is.
National Bullying Prevention Month is the final genre of cyber-bullying prevention.
October is National Bullying Prevention Month. PACER created this campaign in 2006, which
has evolved into a month-long effort. They provide a variety of resources throughout the month
of October and throughout the year. Some of the events that happen throughout the month of
October are walks, runs, celebrity PSAs, and social media guides ("October Is National Bullying

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Prevention Month"). This genre differs from the others because its focus is mainly mode, media,
and audience.
Although the mode of this genre is really technology-based, the main mode is through
person-person interaction. PACERs National Bullying Prevention Month relies heavily on social
media for its success. Social media is their way of getting people involved with their campaign
and raising awareness of bullying. PACER is also directed toward in-person interactions. They
achieve this through the actual events that are held for National Bullying Prevention Month and
throughout the year. Its mode and media connects to the audience. The audience of PACERs
campaign are those who are up-to-date with social media and who want to be involved in the
movement. The audience is not restricted because they want to get as many participants and
supporters as possible. They allow for any and every one to become a part of the campaign
through registering as a Champion Against Bullying, signing up for the Bullying Prevention
Newsletter, and speaking to the community about bullying prevention and local activities.
Conclusively, the five various genres discussed in this paper are not the only genres
present in the issue of cyber-bullying and cyber-bullying prevention. However, these genres are
most representative of cyber-bullying and in-person bullying. Movies, organizations, memoirs,
websites, and the annual bullying prevention month all possess purpose, audience, and rhetorical
appeals, which are vital aspects for a successful genre. These five genres, tied together, create a
strong argument on the importance of raising awareness for the prevention of cyber-bullying.

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Works Cited
"About STOMP Out Bullying." STOMP Out Bullying. N.p., 2007. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.
<http://www.stompoutbullying.org/index.php/about/>.
"Cyberbully (2011 Film)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberbully_(2011_film)>.
"October Is National Bullying Prevention Month." National Bullying Prevention Center. PACER
Center, n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2016. <http://www.pacer.org/bullying/nbpm/>.
"Three Real Life Bullying Stories|NoBullying|." NoBullying Bullying CyberBullying Resources.
N.p., 23 Apr. 2013. Web. 25 Jan. 2016. <http://nobullying.com/three-real-life-stories-ofcyber-bullying/>.
"What Is Cyberbullying." What Is Cyberbullying. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services,
n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2016. <http://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-isit/#effectsofcyberbullying>.