Family and Child Online Safety Blog - SafetyClicks

Each year, the Oxford dictionary updates the list of words used in the English language and includes a "word of the year". For 2009, the word of the year is "unfriend", beating out "netbook", "hashtag" and "sexting ".

The Internet has introduced a myriad of new words, phrases and even acronyms into the lexicon; LOL, OMG, social network, tweet. I am not surprised that this year's word references social networking and the act of removing someone from your list of friends on your social networking profile. I am constantly surprised at how much the Internet has infiltrated society.

The act of unfriending is one way you can help prevent cyberbullying. If your social networking profile is private (only visible to friends), taking away the ability to be taunted via your social network certainly aids in the removal of the bullying online. You can also block communications by blocking email from either that user or from all unknown users. You can block Instant Messages from a single, multiple or all unknown users. If the cyberbully doesn't have a way to communicate with you, it is pretty hard to be abused.

Have you ever unfriended someone? Why? What other methods have you used to curtail cyberbullying?