Cyberbullies are like monsters in the closet. They seem to lurk in the corners and under the bed, and their victims fear they will appear at any time. Just like a child who fears the dark, the victim of a cyberbully may be scared of what hides behind the screen. In today’s world, clicks and keystrokes have the power to destroy and alter lives. Bullies use many different forms of cyberbullying to engage their victims in a game of cat and mouse.

Here are twelve types of cyberbullying that exist:

1. Flaming – Online fighting that can get nasty through posting of angry, vulgar, and degrading messages.
2. Backstabbing – The bully pretends to be the victim’s friend, then turns on him or her by posting or sharing things that make their victim feel hurt, ashamed, and embarrassed.
3. Faking – The bully becomes the victim online. The bully uses a false identity and makes people believe that victim is posting the messages.
4. Harassing – The bully is constantly sending ugly, slanderous, and insulting messages online.
5. Exiling – The bully seeks to exclude and ban the victim from social gatherings and friendships by portraying the victim as an outcast.
6. Blackmailing – Threatening to share personal information with others.
7. Ostracizing – Intentionally excluding someone online.
8. Messaging – The bully uses others to deliver their mean and crude messages.
9. Leveling – The cyberbully feels that the victim has done them wrong and they’re out to get even.
10. Sexual Harrassing - The cyberbully intentionally uses intimidation and coercion of a sexual nature. This can include inappropriate posts, texts, pictures, regarding sexual orientation, or unwelcome harmful sexual information shared online. Sexting, if transferred into the wrong hands, can turn into cyber sexual harassment.
11. Meanie – The cyberbully who likes to annoy and hurt for enjoyment.
12. Pseudonymity – The bully conceals his or her identity and makes up false names.

Raychelle Cassada Lohmann, MS, LPC is the author of The Anger Workbook for Teens: Activities to Help You Deal with Anger and Frustration.