Researchers: Your Coworkers Are Probably D-Bags On The Internet

We’ve weighed in on “cyberbullying” before, not least because it’s the latest cause would-be Internet censors have latched onto to use as an excuse to tell people what to do online. But one thing that hasn’t come up is whether adults experience cyberbullying too. So some English researchers decided to see if your coworkers were awful human beings and we’re sure you’ll be absolutely stunned to find out that they are.

The research looked at three surveys of employees at English universities and found that, of cyberbullying behaviors such as being ignored, humiliated, or gossiped about, eight out of ten had those happened to them in the last six months, and one out of five experienced them at least once a week, although we really hope ignoring those stupid grandma-level email forwards Jenny from accounting keeps shipping out in bulk doesn’t qualify as “bullying.”

So why haven’t we heard about this epidemic? Mostly because people just lump it with all the other aspects that makes their job suck:

The online nature of the bullies may also affect the reporting of such behavior. The study found that people who witnessed online bullying seemed to suffer fewer ill effects than those who saw it in the “real world.” That may make them less likely to tell anyone about it.

In other words, people care a lot less about being treated like crap on the Internet. Another shocking conclusion!