Harassment

This can take many forms, including aggressive, abusive or hurtful texts, emails, dm’s (direct messages) & comments within social media platforms.
A bully or troll can act on their own or as part of a group which is known as “brigading”. They will normally make post on a person& platform to try and elicit a response.
Talking with your child about their account settings at regular intervals and ensuring that they know the people they are chatting to should reduce the risk of falling prey to these people. It is important to be there for your child and watch for any changes in their behaviour which could indicate they are having problems.
Masquerading

It is nearly impossible to be sure that the person you are chatting to is who they say they are and it requires trust on both ends. There are people who betray this trust and who lie about their identity, this is called masquerading.
It only takes seconds to set up an email account and you can use that to create a fake social media account. Stealing photos from unsecured profiles is a common technique to flesh out a fake profile, People do this for lots of reasons, from bullying to stealing, or much darker ends.
Exclusion

Feeling excluded can really hurt, especially if you don’t understand why. Exclusion from a group or private chat, an event, or tagging in a photo can make you feel anxious or instill a desire for inclusion that can make you reckless.
It is a tool used by people to manipulate you by compromising your sense of judgement so that they can exploit you.
Doxing

This is when another person obtains personal details in the form of address, date of birth & other private data in order to use it against you.
Giving information away can lead to harassment, fraud or even criminal activity. You should never share intimate details or photos as they are often shared to cause embarrassment.
Trolling

Trolling is a blanket term for behaviour likely to provoke someone. A troll will employ any means to get the reaction they crave. They want to hurt you and they will lie to achieve this.
It is remarkably easy to defeat a troll once you have identified them, just ignore them.
If they don’t get what they want they do go away.