Let’s pretend for a moment that we know each other; we’re friends. You know, the kind of friends who text each other. And let’s also pretend that you’ve just gone online and realized that I’m in the middle of a social-media you-know-what storm. (Not so far-fetched!) You might fret on my behalf. Wonder whether I’m O.K. You reach for your phone to text me . . . and pause. Should you say something? If so, what? You hem and haw. The next thing you know, something else grabs your attention. Even with the best of intentions, you never actually reach out. And I might very well be feeling alone. Ashamed. Suffering. These scenarios happen everywhere, all the time. Cyberbullying, trolling, and online harassment can ensnare public officials and celebrities but also private citizens, whether teens or college kids or adults. Thousands of people are bullied online—daily. For World Safer Internet Day on February 9, it’s worth considering not only the many ways people can feel unsafe online but also new methods to help limit abusive behavior—or, at least, to blunt the emotional fallout. Support—whether it’s from friends or strangers—matters. Trust me on this. In today’s world, particularly online and especially for younger people, support—knowing you are not alone—is vital and can even save lives. Last year a survey of 5,000 teens from around the world revealed that young people often struggle to find the right words to use when a friend has been cyberbullied. Of those surveyed, 20 percent admitted to having been bullied online themselves, and twice that number said they had had friends who had been harassed. Enter the #BeStrong Emoji Keyboard App, unveiled for the first time on vanityfair.com.
Emojis are like modern-day cave paintings: simple, direct, visual. And because visual images are processed far faster than text, emojis can be among the quickest ways to send a message of support or concern. (Just ask Kim Kardashian, who broke the Internet—or rather the app store—with the launch of her “Kimojis” in December.)
A while ago, I had the opportunity to pitch this idea for the anti-bullying support emojis (which a friend and I cooked up over dinner one night), to Vodafone, one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies. Together, we conceived an emoji as a way to communicate support in a bullying situation.
Vodafone commissioned the study mentioned above, and the teens in the survey confirmed that an emoji would be helpful. The teens, in turn, chose the two designs shown here. After a successful launch in European markets in September—and 80 million interactions with a geo-filter on Snapchat, over the course of three days—Vodafone is now set to launch the #BeStrong Anti-Bullying Emojis Keyboard App to expand that support, globally and among all major mobile carriers. The video above, with yours truly, explains it all. *The free keyboard app is available for download beginning on World Safer Internet Day, February 9, in the iTunes App Store and coming soon on Google Play. *
Monica Lewinsky is a Vanity Fair contributing editor. As a social activist, she is an anti-bullying ambassador to Bystander Revolution and the U.K.’s Diana Award (which recognizes young people’s power to change the world). She speaks publicly and consults on the topics of anti-bullying and the culture of humiliation.
