Hi Maureen,
I am not sure as to why these networks are so popular at schools.If it is to prove that these kids are "tough" then bullying is not the answer. It is also not proving they are tough by putting there harassment as annonymous. I would think that if they wanted to prove they were tough, they would say it to your face not with no name on a website. Am I wrong?
Formspring really tells you how people feel about you though. I didn't even pay attention to what these people were saying, though I always had an idea as to who it was. Once I was insulted as to having my face look like the shell of a stinkbug, and omg do i know that it isn't true. Formspring is mostly a way to insult people, not just Q and A's. When Formspring first started I went around telling my friends how formspring is going to make a lot of teens kill themselves because of bullying. Haha, i guess I was right.

Welcome nickjonastruluv, I share your anguish over the suicide of 17-year-old Alexis Pilkington. For people who don’t know about the case, Alexis committed suicide in March after being severely cyberbullied on formsping.me. It's hard to know how much cyberbullying contributed to her decision to kill herself. Family members say Alexis was in a lot of pain and the website comments didn’t contribute to her death. But we’ll never really know. Unbelievably, the mean comments on formspring.me (and FB) continued even after Alexis’ death.

I’m so sorry you were the target of bullies on the site. I’m glad you took action to protect yourself by canceling the account. We (you, me, parents, educators, everyone) need to convince people (especially young people) that bullying is not only wrong but abnormal behavior (practiced by a small, disturbed minority). If we marginalize bullies people will see them – not their victims – as the losers.

Maureen

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Maureen Kochan
ConnectSafely community manager