Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Tuesday 11 July 2017
Bad behavior is trending online, inspiring it in real life

By SANDY COHEN lion Twitter followers, has
AP Entertainment Writer defended his social-media
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Young approach as “modern day
children know that name- presidential.”
calling is wrong. Tweens Cyber incivility, particularly
are taught the perils of on- when practiced by cultural
line bullying and revenge leaders, can have a pro-
porn: It’s unacceptable found impact on human
and potentially illegal. relations, North said.
But celebrities who en- Studies show that young
gage in flagrant attacks on people who witness ag-
social media are rewarded gressive behavior in adults
with worldwide attention. model and expand on
President Donald Trump’s that behavior. She pointed
most popular tweet to to Stanford University psy-
date is a video that shows chologist Albert Bandura’s
him fake-pummeling a per- famous “Bobo Doll Experi-
sonification of CNN. Reality ment,” which found that
TV star Rob Kardashian was kids who saw adults hit a
trending last week after at- doll in frustration not only
tacking his former fiancée hit the doll as well, but at-
on Instagram in a flurry of tacked it with weapons.
posts so explicit his ac- Social media is an atmo-
count was shut down. He sphere devoid of the so-
continued the attacks on cial cues that mitigate
Twitter, where he has more behavior in real life, she
than 7.6 million followers. said. When violating social
While public interest in bad In this combination photo, TV personality Rob Kardashian, left, appears in New York on Nov. 23, norms in person, there’s im-
behavior is nothing new, 2011 and his former fiancee Blac Chyna appears at the BET Awards in Los Angeles on June 25, mediate feedback from
social media has created 2017. others through body lan-
a vast new venue for inci- guage and tone of voice.
vility to be expressed, wit- On some middle-school bonding factors in human ular, according to a new No such indicators exist on-
nessed and shared. And campuses, “Trumping” nature,” North said. study by Ohio State Uni- line, and retweets can feel
experts say it’s affecting means to grab a girl’s rear With 352,000 retweets, versity Professor Jayeon like validation.
social interactions in real end, she said. Trump’s CNN-pummeling “Janey” Lee. Cruel and humiliating posts
life. And teenagers have killed post isn’t in the realm of “Attacks on the media often become “an instant
“Over time, the attitudes themselves over the kind Ellen DeGeneres’ Oscar were most effective,” hit online,” Steiner-Adair
and behaviors that we of slut-shaming and ex- said. “It’s one of the best
are concerned with right posure of private images ways to become popular.”
now in social media will Kardashian leveled at Blac Viral posts then get main-
bleed out into the physical Chyna, with whom he has stream media attention,
world,” said Karen North, a an infant daughter. spreading digital nastiness
psychologist and director “We are normalizing be- into everyday conversa-
of the University of Southern haviors, and it’s affecting tion. By not expressly reject-
California’s Digital Social some kids,” Steiner-Adair ing cruel or hateful online
Media Program. “We’re said. “And what’s affect- behavior, “we are creating
supposed to learn to be ing kids that is profound is a bystander culture where
polite and civil in society. their mistrust of grown-ups people think this is funny,”
But what we have right who are behaving so bad- she said.
now is a situation where a ly. Why aren’t they stop- “When we tolerate lead-
number of role models are ping this?” ers — in the popular me-
acting the opposite of that Social media satisfies a hu- dia like a Kardashian, or
... And by watching it, we man need for connection. a president — behaving
vicariously feel it, and our Users bond over common in this way, we are creat-
own attitudes and behav- interests and establish digi- Copies of the New York Post with an illustration of President Don- ing a very dangerous pe-
iors change as a result.” tal relationships with their ald Trump as a professional wrestler on the front page are dis- tri dish for massive cultural
Catherine Steiner-Adair, a favorite public figures, fol- played at a newsstand in New York City, Monday, July 3, 2017. change,” Steiner-Adair
psychologist and author lowing and commenting On Sunday, Trump’s apparent fondness for wrestling emerged in said.
of “The Big Disconnect: on their lives just like they a tweeted mock video that shows him pummeling a man in a Young people, who may
business suit with his face obscured by the CNN logo.
Protecting Childhood and do their friends’. Associated Press be the most plugged in,
Family Relationships in the Gossip is a bonding activ- are getting mixed messag-
Digital Age,” said she’s al- ity, and it doesn’t take a selfie (3.4 million retweets). Lee said of her analysis of es as they form their moral
ready seeing the effects. Real Housewife to know And Kardashian’s rant tweets posted during the concepts.
She said she’s been con- people love to share dirt against Chyna paled in presidential campaign. “It behooves us all to ques-
fronted by students across about others’ perceived popularity with Beyonce’s “Whenever Trump criti- tion why we are participat-
the country asking why ce- misdeeds. Collective dis- Instagram pregnancy an- cized or mocked the me- ing in this mob of reactiv-
lebrities and political lead- approval creates a feeling nouncement, which col- dia, the message was more ity,” Steiner-Adair said,
ers are allowed to engage of community, regardless lected 8 million likes. likely to be retweeted and “and what are the charac-
in name-calling and other of which side you’re on. Still, Trump’s attack tweets ‘favorited.’ “ ter traits we need to model
activities for which they Having a common enemy have proven his most pop- Trump, who has 33.4 mil- for our children.”q
would be punished. is “one of the strongest