Sophie Lennon | Health and Wellbeing Editor
Dear Sophie,
I used to love chatting to my friends on Snapchat and sending each other funny selfies but last week one of my friends took a screenshot of a photo I sent them and posted it on Facebook. The photo was not at all flattering and it makes me self-conscious knowing that 100’s of people have access to it. Last night I logged on to Facebook and saw that people had left horrible comments on it, labelling me “fat”, “ugly” and “disgusting”. I cried for hours and couldn’t stop. I phoned my friend who posted it and she claimed it was just a joke but I know if I did the same, she would never speak to me again. I feel so upset!
Seeing mean things about yourself online is always difficult but especially so when someone you consider to be a friend is the source of the issue.
If you’ve already spoken to your friend about how hurt you are and she has failed to fix the problem by removing the image, then maybe you need to ask yourself is she really your friend?
If she was she would never have posted the picture in the first place knowing that it would upset you. Try speaking to her again and if she still refuses to delete the picture there are actions you can take to permanently delete it from Facebook.
If you go onto the picture and click the ‘options’ button you have the opportunity to report it so no one will have access to the image again. Participating in social networking is always a risk so if you really don’t want for this problem to reoccur you should really just not get involved in any of it.
However, this isn’t the most realistic of plans as while there are dangers to social networking there are also many fun aspects to it! It’s not fair that one friend has ruined your fun so instead of letting her get you down you should instead be a bit more selective in who you choose to share your pictures with in hopes that this situation never repeats itself.
In the mean time, don’t let these horrible comments bother you. Some people like to hurt others only because they’re not happy with themselves; they choose to burden you with their own insecurities in attempts to improve their self-esteem which is really just horrible! Be the stronger person and don’t give them the satisfaction of showing them you are upset by their comments.
Simply ignore them and move on, knowing that by doing this you are being the better person.
Need Sophie’s advice? Contact anyone from The Oystercatcher with a letter. However, please remember that any issues we deem to be serious may need to be passed on to your guidance teacher or head of year.
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