Ms. Kezia

Interview with Ms. Kezia Aletheia, social media influencer and actress.

This interview took place on Friday, 19 May 2023.

1. Q: Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

A: "My name is Kezia, Kezia Aletheia is my full name. So what I do for a living is acting, I am an actor. I'm also a content creator, I make content every day, Tiktok mainly but I also do Instagram."

2. Q: Do you have experience with cyberbullying or cyberhate? If yes, can you share it with us? 

A: "I think everyone who is involved in the digital world or if they are a public figure. I think once in a while, they will come across cyberbullying. I myself, have experienced cyberbullying, and it is not nice, I don't want to go through that again. I don't go through it as a lot of people do, I know there are people who go through it every day on a daily basis but I'm not on that level and I don't plan to be on that level. I think my experience was still moderate."

3. Q: In your opinion, why does cyberbullying occur and what are the main causes of cyberbullying, taken on social media?

A: "I think the first question, is the lack of education because I think people that have too much time on criticizing others on the internet. I think they don't have a lot of education in terms of how to behave in the digital world and I think they need to be educated more about the mental side, what people go through in bullying, and also bullying in real life, maybe in school. That affects people in the long run, especially their mental health and I think people need to be educated more on that side. They have to be more aware of how it affects people. 

I think it also goes back to my answer to the first question. The main causes of the mental health of what people go through. It's so easy to bully people through the internet, you can just type anything and say anything without thinking that you will see them the next day. It is very easy and very accessible to bully people on the internet, which is not good. It affects them so much on mental health, and I think it also affects their productivity. When you always get cyber bullied, you don't want to post anymore. So I think the mental health and productivity is what gets affected the most."

4. Q: What is the impact of cyberbullying or cyber hate?

A: "First of all, I think I have touched upon the mental side of the victim but the effects are a lot. When people see cyberbullying happen, they either join and bully too or they just stay quiet or they defend them hopefully. The negative effects, when there is so much bullying, people might think it's okay to do that, but somehow it affects other people to do it as well.  "

5. Q: What age is social media appropriate for and why?

A: "Every platform like Tiktok and Instagram, they have the guidance. There is only certain content you see if you are 13 or below and if you are 13 and above, there is a lot more. So, I think in every platform there is a guidance that everyone should follow. I believe if you follow that and if you don't sneak around and find the content you should not see or things on the internet you should not see. I think you should follow the guidelines. So what age? I don't think there is an exact age, because kids at school, need the internet. For school, it's a good thing, as long as you use it properly and follow the guidelines, the internet could be a beautiful place. But when you start sneaking around, then the bad things happen. "

6. Q: In your opinion, what can we do to prevent cyberbullying or cyber hate?

A: "First of all, spread love on the internet. Second of all, if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all, because its so easy to say lots of things on the internet, it is just one click away. Not everything is supposed to be commented on. Sometimes when we don't have anything nice to say, just don't watch it at all. Me, as a content creator, I always say that to my followers, if you don't like somebody's content or if you don't support somebody's content, then just don't say anything at all, just scroll away. Unless you standing up to somebody, that is different. "

7. Q: Is there a good side to cyberbullying/cyber hate? 

A: "There is no good side to cyberbullying because its basically just hate. After I experienced cyberbullying, I became stronger, I learned to block things I'm not supposed to believe in. So I think that is the only good side. It also made me understand my emotions more in terms of which things I should put emotion on."

8. Q: What is your advice for children our age about cyberbullying?

A: "First of all, don't engage in any type of cyberbullying, don't be going around the internet bullying people, commenting things that aren't nice, don't be a bully in real life and the internet. Second of all, if you are going through cyberbullying, maybe once in a while, learn to turn it off. If what your going through is cyberbullying, you can just turn the internet off and not read it at all. If you put too much time on anything, it can be a bad thing. Anything that is too much is always a bad thing "