While social media is a great way to connect and share information, it also has its downsides – particularly in a competitive community like racing. The pressure many of us face every day is enough - and there are things we can do individually, and collectively, to ‘raise the bar’ for all of us.

Much expert advice focuses on:

  • Limiting your overall time on social media - and balancing this with face-to-face discussion or phone calls; 
  • Avoid the bashers, the cynics, or the angry losing punter, none of these people are fun to be around and can just drag us down.  Focus your attention on positive sites and people;
  • Blocking or ignoring harmful comments;
  • Thinking before you comment or post:
  • would you say this to the person’s face?
  • have you thought about how they might be feeling or how they might react to your message?
  • what would your friends think?

While ‘anonymous’ online comments can be hurtful - it’s important to remember that whoever posted them is a ‘keyboard bully’ and is not willing to stand behind their views - and everyone else who sees them, realises this too. Most advice is to ignore, not engage.

If you are experiencing online bullying via social media - characterised by receiving upsetting or threatening messages, having rumours or accusations spread about you online, or being the victim of fake profiles or embarrassing content - NetSafeNZ can help.

 

As with other forms of harassment concerns, you can also:

 

 

Further resources:

Online Bullying and Abuse - NetSafe NZ

Employee Actions Outside of Work - Employment NZ