TIKTOKERS FIGHT CYBERBULLYING
TikTok has launched its #CreateKindness Conversations webinar campaign to boost awareness on cyberbullying while promoting kindness among netizens.
The forum featured various creators and resource speakers who spoke about cyberbullying and protecting mental wellbeing when faced with discrimination and other issues on social media. According to Kristoffer Rada, the company’s head for public policy, “TikTok believes that all online communities should be safe from bullying. These spaces should be free of judgment, and promote positive online behavior.” He said the #CreateKindness campaign’s mission is to ensure a positive environment by joining the Philippine government, as well as various non-governmental organization, in fighting cyberbullying.
The #CreateKindness campaign also serves as the launchpad for TikTok’s anti-bullying animated video series, which offers perspectives from different creators on how choosing kindness can help combat harmful behavior on the app.
TikTok creator Julienne Ipapo was one of the speakers, as well as the host, for the webinar. Having been bullied at a young age, Julienne said she knows how one’s words can truly affect other people.
“Our words have the power to lift people up. To make people’s day or to break people. There’s so much negativity and hurting in this world,” she said.
Josel Anne Miolata, a registered psychometrician and member of the Philippine Mental Health Association Inc. (PMHA) shared her insights during the webinar.
Josel manages several volunteers involved in PMHA’s ongoing project that provides mental health and psychosocial support services to anyone who needs it.
The #CreateKindness campaign’s mission is to ensure a positive environment by joining the Philippine government in fighting cyberbullying.
Josel defined cyberbullying, and discussed the negative effects it may have on a person’s psychological and physical health, as well as academic performance, and how it may result in depression and a high risk of suicidal tendencies.
“It is important to know and be aware of the effects of cyberbullying. We cannot correct bad behavior if we do not know if the behavior is bad. Knowing that your actions and behavior can affect other people can help stop bullying,” she said.
Another TikTok creator who spoke during the webinar is Alec Cuenca. He is the host of Small Talk!, one of the top podcasts in the Philippines, as well as a motivational speaker. At the webinar, he shared a personal story about how he created kindness in his own life after a series of unfortunate events and circumstances.
Alec Cuenca, another creator, said that negative comments can be turned into something positive.
Kindness starts within,” he shared. “We go to social media, trying to look for positivity, trying to look for kindness, for love, for inspiration, for motivation.”
“But we rarely see that most of the kindness that we want to seek out from the world, we can actually create, and it will come back to us tenfold in the future,” he added.