When prosecuted, many stalkers have unsuccessfully attempted to justify their behavior based on their use of public forums, as opposed to direct contact. Once they get a reaction from the victim, they will typically attempt to track or follow the victim's internet activity. Classic cyberstalking behavior includes the tracing of the victim's IP addresses in an attempt to verify their home or place of employment.
Stalking does not consist of single incidents, but is a continuous process. Similar to stalking off-line (physical stalking), cyberstalking can be a terrifying experience for victims, placing them at risk of psychological trauma, and possible physical harm. As Rokkers writes, "Stalking is a form of mental assault, in which the perpetrator repeatedly, unwantedly, and disruptively breaks into the life-world of the victim, with whom they have no relationship (or no longer have)....Moreover, the separated acts that make up the intrusion cannot by themselves cause the mental abuse, but do taken together (cumulative effect)." (For a list of effects, see Stalking)
Some cyberstalking situations do evolve into physical stalking, and a victim may experience abusive and excessive phone calls, vandalism, threatening or obscene mail, trespassing, and physical assault. Moreover, many physical stalkers will use cyberstalking as another method of harassing their victims.
Cyberbullying occurs when a person (often a child, preteen or teenager) is bullied, harassed, humiliated, threatened, embarrassed, or targeted in someway by another person (often another young person) through the use of internet, cell phones and other forms of digital technology. In order for it to be cyber-bullying, the intent must be to cause emotional distress, and there must be no legitimate purpose to the communication. Cyberbullying can be as simple as continuing to send e-mail to someone who has said they want no further contact with the sender, but it may also include threats, sexual remarks, pejorative labels (i.e., hate speech). Though the use of sexual remarks and threats are sometimes present in cyber-bullying, it is not the same as sexual harassment and does not involve sexual predators. Cyber-bullies may disclose victims' personal data (e.g. real name or workplace/schools) at websites or forums, or may attempt to assume the identity of a victim for the purpose of publishing material in their name that defames or ridicules them. Some cyber-bullies may also send threatening emails and instant messages to the victims. The content in these messages are often so strong that a victim may commit suicide. Suicide is rare but strong bullying material is more common. Some may post victims' photos, or victims' edited photos like defaming captions or pasting victims' faces on nude bodies. One famous forum for disclosing personal data or photos to "punish" the "enemies" is Hong Kong Golden ForumOne example of suicide from being a victim of cyber-bullying is the Megan Meier suicide case.
