Why You Gotta Be So Mean? The Rise of Cyberbullying in the Workplace

I’m sure everyone has experienced at least one instance of bullying by email, text, or Facebook. It’s a lot easier to be mean to someone when they’re not standing in front of you, and with the increasing use of technology as a means of mainstream communication, we’re seeing a rise in horrible conduct – and not just by adolescents. It’s also happening in the workplace.

In her article, The Real-World Implications of Workplace and Cyberbullying, Meghan Biro cites: A recent study by VitalSmarts, a leadership consultancy founded by David Maxwell, author of Crucial Conversations, polled nearly 3,000 people on the topic of workplace bullying. A stunning 96% of respondents indicated they’d been bullied in the workplace. Other chilling statistics: 62% of bullying came in the form of sabotaging work and/or reputation; 52% in ‘browbeating, threats and intimidation’, and 4% in actual physical assault.

I’ll never forget an incident a few years ago with a senior executive who had a reputation for passive-aggressive behavior and who became upset by my email response on some issue. He responded angrily in ALL CAPS for several paragraphs (and included several other executives on his response), and I still remember the awful feeling in the pit of my stomach over the interaction. This person was clearly “yelling” at me, and when I responded by pointing this out (privately of course), the CAPS and the language in the next response became even more furious. I finally made the trip up a couple of floors to speak directly to him and talk the issue out like adults.

Why does ALL CAPS come across as shouting? Professor Paul Luna, Director of the Department of Typography and Graphic Communication at the UK’s University of Reading, said, “All-capitals provide visibility—maximum size within a given area, and that works online, too. All-caps in an email looks like shouting because when someone is shouting, you’re aware of the shout, and not the nuance,” Luna continued. “ALL-CAPS FILL THE SPACE, so there’s an element of feeling that the message is crowding out everything else.”

In What People Think When You Type in All Caps, Kathryn Vercillo argues that there are other negative assumptions coming from the use of ALL CAPS including:

• People assume that the writer is trying to demand attention;
• People may assume that you have a lack of skill with technology;
• People may assume that you are an immature writer;
• People may assume that you are lazy;
• People may wonder if you are trying to be a rebel.

And if this weren’t enough, according to Miles Tinker, renowned for his landmark work, Legibility of Print, using ALL CAPS inhibits the reader’s ability to effectively digest the information one is trying to convey:

“All-capital print greatly retards speed of reading in comparison with lower-case type. Also, most readers judge all capitals to be less legible.”

And this is only one type of cyberbullying. A report by the consulting firm CQR states that cyberbullying includes but is not limited to:

• Malicious or threatening emails, text messages, and tweets;
• Electronic communications that contain jokes about ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other topic that would make an individual uncomfortable;
• Public shaming via a mass email;
• Sharing embarrassing, offensive, or manipulated images or videos of an individual;
• Spreading lies and gossip – social networking sites and blogs are usually the most common ways people become victim of another person’s cyberbullying.

About Health outlines how from a business standpoint, cyberbullying has undeniably negative consequences. People who are bullied at work may experience stress, anxiety, panic attacks and trouble sleeping. They may have higher blood pressure, ulcers and other stress-related illnesses.

There also is some evidence that bullied workers have trouble making decisions, an incapacity to work or concentrate, a loss of self-esteem and become less productive. Part of this loss of productivity is brought on by a loss of motivation, stress and health complaints, but the other part is comprised of time spent trying to defend themselves, avoiding the bully, networking for support, ruminating about the situation and planning how to deal with situation.

I know first hand that following the ALL CAPS email onslaught I received from that senior executive, I avoided future contact with him when and if at all possible. And I spent a fair amount of time discussing with colleagues how to effectively handle the situation and move forward. This is really unfortunate since he was one of the brightest and savviest executives I have ever known – but that point was completely lost by the approach he took to giving me his feedback.

A loss for the company, and a great lesson for employers.