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Somewhere off in cyber world the celebrity stan and the cyber bully got busy and had a baby. What they gave birth to took on the persistent and stalker-like  characteristics of the die-hard stan and the relentless aggressiveness and cruelness of the cyber bully. Their offspring is known as the celebrity antagonist. The celebrity antagonist is the new and improved cyber bully who strictly targets those with fame. Their weapons of choice are normally social networking platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook; however, in recent news they’ve become a little more crafty and have even begun branching out to platforms such as Change.org so that they can also start mean-spirited petitions against celebrities as well. It is through these social networking platforms that these lunatics publicly taunt and harass their celeb of choice.

Now, I’ll admit I have gotten a chuckle or two in the past from seeing smart or comedic remarks directed at certain celebs that have come across my Twitter timeline, but there are some people who are downright cruel. The most recent hateful act was targeted towards actress Tia Mowry – Hardrict and her one-year old son Cree. Going out of your way to publicly verbally abuse a new mother by attacking her innocent child and calling him ugly is absolutely ridiculous. Another similar situation that comes to mind is when a photo surfaced of Dream Hampton’s teen daughter with Beyonce prior to one of her concerts. Twitter and Tumblr users wasted no time taking shots at the young girl’s appearance. “These are early 20 something  Beyonce stans coming for my teenager,” Hampton tweeted in disbelief before disabling her Twitter and Tumblr accounts. What makes this so much worse is that they were attacking a teen girl who is old enough to comprehend what was being said about her. Being a person who knows what it is like to struggle with self-esteem issues, I found this to be absolutely horrible.

The funny thing is that cyber bullying has no loyalty, no one is safe. Well known bullies can catch it as well. Right now the queen bully, Evelyn Lozada seems to be getting a taste of her own antagonistic medicine as a direct result of her recent domestic dispute with soon to be ex-hubby Chad Ochocino. Her Twitter mentions have been overflowing with derogatory tweets ever since the news of her falling out with Chad made headlines. Eric Williams, ex-hubby of Ev’s ex-bff even seems to have joined in on the playground-like taunting by tweeting Evelyn about them having head knots in common now(If you guys recall the season before last Ev frequently joked Eric’s protruding head knot). Many feel that she deserves exactly what she’s getting. I am certainly not an Evelyn fan but I personally feel that bullying is not cool no matter who does it or who it is being done to. I also feel that taunting someone during their time of distress is outright cruel.

Let us not forget about malevolent petition that was put in motion to get Ciara to stop making music. There is nothing that can ever stop an artist from putting out music unless they no longer possess the physical ability to do it anymore. That only goes to show that the petition was created for no other reason than to intentionally disgrace and hurt the feelings of another person. Celebrities are nothing but well known people. They bleed like us. They feel like us. They cry like us. They hurt like us. The behavior exhibited towards them on social networks is disgusting. What can possibly be gained from hiding behind an internet persona and intentionally insulting people that you don’t even know? I understand that it is easy to get caught up in the whole mob mentality thing. I understand that there is a disconnect because we don’t personally know these people, but where is our morality as a culture?

Jazmine Denise is a freelance writer living in New York. Follow her on Twitter @jazminedenise

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Twitter and Facebook are going to be the death of black people—in some instances it already has been. And while I know we are hardly the only ones using the social networking sites we are the biggest users and unfortunately too many of us are using it for violent foolishness.

Today there’s a story that’s been picked up about a 30-person brawl of all women in St. Louis that surprisingly only left two people with major injuries after they were hit with bats and required a trip to the hospital for stitches. “Police say one of the women in the group broke a glass candleholder from a nearby memorial and used it as a weapon before heading into the convenience store.” And you know what this was all over? Facebook. And though you might expect witnesses to say something along the lines of, “this is ridiculous,” “I don’t understand what this is about,” or something similar, CBS local news quoted a woman as saying, “People shouldn’t be posting their business on Facebook.” Well, that’s part of it. The other part is people shouldn’t be fighting over Facebook period.

It’s interesting that I came across this story because just yesterday one of my friends asked me if I’d seen the drama that had erupted on his Twitter timeline. I had not and so he filled me in on how he had apparently been talking about some personal experiences from his college years that involved cheating, unplanned pregnancies, and miscarriages (I don’t know if he called himself doing a Twitter testimonial or what) and although he’d left any identifying personal details, somehow someone he knew picked up on the story and twitter hell broke loose. By the end of the day he had gotten a few nasty calls from the friend who’d seen the tweets, the girl he had written about, and Facebook threats from the girl’s current boyfriend. I joked with him that he was a World Star Hip Hop video waiting to happen but the reality is he truly was.

In a lot of ways there’s a need for accountability on both sides of the coin. The “Internet balls” phenomenon is alive and well and many social media users trick themselves into thinking they can say whatever they please online when it comes to real-life circumstances simply because they’re behind the safety of a computer screen (for the moment) and that’s certainly not OK. But it’s also not acceptable to migrate an Internet beef into a brawl in the streets over comments that 1. May or may not be directed at you, 2. No one else probably knows are directed at you, 3. Are just not that serious. Just last week we saw the violent viral video of the teen dragging another girl out of the house and beating and stomping her all the way into the front yard over Twitter. At some point we have to realize what’s more important—our future as a free law-abiding citizen or checking someone over something 25 people probably noticed on the Twitterverse.

Although I’m sure there have been instances of white folks coming to blows over Internet beef we seem to be the main perpetrators of this trend and ironically I think it has to do with some black people’s need to protect their image. It’s interesting because we talk about the negative images we’re tired of seeing on this site all day, but some people are so concerned with defending their reputation and the image people have of them that when it’s disrespected or challenged online it becomes as real as if someone were saying it directly to their face. I think this phenomenon also speaks to the inherent anger people are harboring inside or they’re simply looking for a reason to get into it. If by the time you get through reading someone’s timeline or trying to find their latest posts on Facebook and when you get in your car and over to wherever the other person is, you still feel like beating the brakes off of them over a few words, you may need to sign up for the Tami Roman school of anger management. It’s just not worth it boo boo.

I’m certainly not about Internet thugging but the violent manner in which these situations are being handled—and increasingly by women—just isn’t worth it. Internet beef needs to be kept and squashed online so you can go about your real life sensibly.

Why do you think so many people are quick to fight in real life over things said over the Internet?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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You’re minding your own business. Instantly, you sense someone lurking in the shadows and you can’t seem to get him or her off your back. You’re feeling as if that protective shield (around you) is vulnerable or susceptible to violation at any time. More than 3.4 million people in the United States are victims of stalking by intimate partners, acquaintances or strangers; and all states have anti-stalking laws, according to privacyrights.org. But some state laws require that the perpetrator threaten the victim before the person can be accused of stalking.  Stalking comes in varying degrees – sexual, physical, or mental if possible and can take place in your residence, at work or over the phone. Cyberstalking is equally as bad. As a result, it’s our duty to clue you into signs you may be targeted by a stalker.

Check it out!

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