Fear factor, writes Shweta Bachchan Nanda

While scouring the Internet for ideas — Halloween party costume ideas to be precise — it dawned on me that no one is scared of ghouls and goblins anymore because bullies and trolls are the new spooks! The comments section on any link online has taken over from the things that go bump at night as stuff of nightmares. As if this wasn’t bad enough, I hear Facebook will now have a ‘dislike’ button. *breaks out in a cold sweat* 

So what is it about the Internet that brings out the beast in all of us? Anonymity! It’s as simple as that, and it’s the oldest trick in the book. Take your horror movies, for example. Every time some poor sod walks down a dark alley, or wanders into a dense fog, you’re already covering your eyes in fear, and it’s precisely because you don’t know what’s out there waiting for said poor sod. Likewise with the Internet, anyone can be brave when you are not held accountable. That’s the thing about bullies, they flourish because no one stands up to them and the menace is always implied and very seldom applied. 

Trolls... there should be a special place in hell reserved for these guys! Anyone who picks on people (and I am being kind when I say ‘pick’) by preying on their vulnerabilities just to get their giggles is seriously in need of some karmic payback (thanks to ‘connectivity’, all you need is to be glib and have an internet connection). Celebrities have it the worst, those guys can’t even have a bad hair day without it being trolled, spoofed or memed and going viral before you even know it. 

It’s great that we now have a way and the means to get our opinions heard, and though it’s very often used to bring about positive change or highlight issues, the negativity online far outweighs anything positive that’s happening. Everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame and they don’t care whose toes they’re going to step on to get it. But the truth is, bullies are bullies no matter how much you fancy up their title. Cyber bullies are a scary reality, and so tough to track and curtail that very often, it’s just too late before the authorities can do something about it. 

A good diss will earn you the undying admiration of your peers — and that is precisely the problem — no one knows when to stop pushing! The old adage about “sticks and stones” and “words that will never hurt you”? Boy, did those chaps get it wrong!

FACT: Words hurt and damage, sometimes irreparably. Once something nasty is said, it cannot be taken back. Let’s try and leave the scaring and intimidating to the ghouls and ghost and zombies, Halloween wouldn’t be much fun if the most terrifying costumes we wore would be our own skin.