Have you ever had one of those days, where you are online and you are trying to control the water in your eyes from streaming down your cheeks. You are anxiously awaiting the reply, if any, from the complete stranger who can be thousands of miles away, who has just crushed your whole world-your virtual, online fantasy world known as Stardoll. Once you have finished dealing with the shenanigans online, you then get off the brain-washing device and either hit your best friend-the soft, cushy pillow on your bed, or you grab your iPod, plug in the headphones, and drown out the cruel, harsh environment that surrounds you.
Admit it, you have been through similar situation to this. You were either in tears, ready to sob every ounce of water out of your body, or you were ready to unleash hell on someone with all the rage stored up in your being, while another person is celebrating with joy, as they either successfully damaged one's self-esteem to a new low, or got away with getting some new, precious rares or more stardollars to add in their virtual wallet. You cannot control the actions of another human being. That is like trying to control the weather-it is impossible.
On Stardoll, or any site on the huge online universe, people get bullied or harassed every single day. No matter how hard you try to protect and promote anti-cyberbulling, there are cruel children, teens, and even adults who are completely clueless on how a few words, or even one, can affect the self-esteem of one person. No matter how bad-ass you try to act, deep down in your heat, you are hurt. Some can get away with covering up the pain by keeping the clouds away by never letting their sunshine fade. Others however, do not have the same ability, or tolerance, to keep the sun shining, therefore the dark, stormy rain clouds hang over their head, as they are trying to re-coop their lost self-esteem, which can take merely a few hours, or a few months.
When on Stardoll, or anywhere online, you may just be sitting back in your chair, having a good ol' time chatting with a friend or an acquaintance, maybe knowing little to nothing about what they are suffering through that very moment. You may decide to let your inner comedian unleash, and crack a joke or be sarcastic. You are then trying to figure out why your so-called-friend is upset or offended, when you were simply just joking around. Every one of us have different views on things, and get offended on different subjects. Your so-called funny joke may have been "laughing my fat ass off funny" to you, but heart shattering to another. What you think is right, may be morally wrong to another.
On Stardoll, 99% of the time, you are talking to complete strangers you will never meet in person. You do not know their background story, their lifestyle, or their beliefs. You can not just shove something down someone's throat and expect them to be perfectly fine with that. It may turn out that what you said is the complete opposite of what they were raised to believe. If someone was to shatter what you believe in, your dreams, your well-being, would you accept that? In reality, would you just stand there perfectly still while someone is teasing you, abusing you, or harassing you? Of course you wouldn't, you would be standing up for yourself.
On Stardoll, it's the same. Do not think because you are older, bigger, or popular that it is okay to bully someone. What makes you better than that person? Just because you may be superstar or have better clothes, makeup, and a better suite does not make you better than that person in general. And scamming/hacking? Why do you deserve to get rares, stardollars, and accounts for cheap? Why can't you just be a good citizen of Stardoll and pay up like everyone else? Would you be on "Stardoll Welfare" if there was such a thing? You would not be, which is why you have no excuse. Just because you are not fortunate enough to be a superstar does not mean you have to take it out on one to make yourself feel better. It can crush their feelings deep into the ground. I know, as I used to be a vulnerable pre-teen myself. My friend and I both had our hearts crushed by cruel, heartless, attempting to be bad-ass people.
On the other hand, if you are superstar, you should not bully those who are not as fortunate as you. They may be lucky just to own a computer and even have internet. They may choose not to waste their money on a virtual site, which is pretty smart. They may be a kindhearted person in general, but would you know that by being a bully to them? That is like going up out of the blue and punching someone in the eye-they may deserve it but most likely they don't. Then they feel like they did something completely wrong and feel self-conscious about themselves.
While trying to cope up with the pain you may have endured, you also have to stay strong. Yes, it was wrong for someone to harass or bully you, but you have to remember that these virtual friends may not want to hear your pity story. Some of your friends may try to reach out and help you, when others will simply ignore you. It is okay to go to someone for help-if you are not going to be desperate about it. Asking people nicely to buy from your sale is one thing, but when you go crazy and say "HELP I WAS SCAMMED/HACKED BY SO AND SO! REPORT THEM AND WRITE IN THEIR GUESTBOOK! PLEASE BUY FROM MY SALE! I HAVE NO STARDOLLARS :((((". While being scammed, hacked, or bullied is devastating, you also have to understand that others do not want to hear your sop story. As they say, you have to "man up" sometimes. Put on your big kid dippers and hold in the misery until you can find a trustworthy ear to hear you or sympathetic shoulder to lean on. You cannot expect random strangers to help you.
But why would we want to put a person through this misery in the first place? Would you want someone harassing you just because you are not like them? Would you want to get abused just because you are more or less fortunate? Would you want someone taking their problems out on you? No one wants to be a victim of a bully, several bullies, a scammer, or a hacker. You can help prevent someone feeling less about themselves, when they are the best person they can be. You can save someone's life by watching the words that come out of your mouth or on Stardoll-the words that you type with your fingers.
Next time you want to be a jester, or want to take your anger out on an innocent bystander, like your virtual friend, think twice before you send a message to someone, or before you even type it with your powerful, majestic fingers. You can change someone's life over the internet, either for the better, or for the worse. Your actions and words on the internet play a big role in how others see you. No one wants a bad reputation do they? ;)
