Make 17 minutes to listen to Jon Ronson on the public shaming of people on Twitter. It's important.

Watch the TEDtalk here

Nearly half of teenagers surveyed in new study stated cyberbullying is bigger problem than drug abuse and as many as one in five teenagers has been subjected to cyberbullying, a study has found.

Read the article here

Google Ideas is a think tank specifically dedicated to supporting free expression while fighting harassment. Google posted a picture of the mena dn women working on the project and there followed racist, sexist, hate filled replies via Twitter.

Full story here (Be aware the language is offensive)

Some parents turn to socialmedia to punish and discipline their children by publicly shaming them.

The implications and consequences of this public shaming and humilation are serious and at times fatal.

Public humiliation videos will cause problems for young people when they apply for college and employment. It seems that parents do not realise the message; 'Post once and it's there forever' applies to their social media activity too.

It should also be noted that there have been tragic incidents where young people have taken their own lives following public shaming by their parents.

In the US there is a proposal to make parental public shaming of their children a state offence.

'Nude Selfies: What Parents and Carers Need to Know' is a series of four short animated films for parents and carers offering advice on how to help keep their children safe from the risks associated with sharing nude and nearly nude images.

The films aim to help parents and carers:

• Understand young people's motivations for sending nude selfies.
• Plan to respond positively and constructively to an incident in which their child has shared a nude selfie.
• Gain confidence and skills in initiating preventative conversations.
• Identify risky behaviours or situations and know where to seek help.
• Know how to get help if a child is at risk after sharing an image.

Why are people so mean on the Internet? It's a question we have been trying to answer for more than a decade, but the matter seems to be reaching a cultural boiling point.

Read the New York Times article here