Rest in peace Charlotte Dawson.

Social media has put me in touch with so many people from all walks of life - some of these people have been celebrities that I chat to regularly on Twitter.

This morning Charlotte Dawson was found dead in her Sydney home.

Charlotte was often on the receiving end of online bullying. She attempted to take her life in 2012 after an onslaught of attacks via Twitter. Charlotte was open about her depression, which I'm sure helped others to feel less alone.

She was a huge advocate for people who were bullied online, and involved in charity work supporting mental health. She fought for the underdog. She was so warm, she took care of people there and took those fragile people - just like herself - under her wing. She looked after people on Twitter, supporting them and encouraging them.

Charlotte and I have been friends on Twitter for a couple of years now, tweeting to each other regularly. When I was in hospital in 2012, she told me the food I was photographing looked delicious and that she wanted some, and we laughed (virtually) about how it was the first time hospital food looked so desirable! She gave me her phone number too, in case I needed to talk. I sent her a few messages - namely to see how she was during her publicly difficult times. She cheered me on empathetically during my Reddit experience. Yesterday she tweeted me. Saying she was a fan of my blog, and to keep blogging. I thanked her but wish I had have asked her if she was ok.

I feel sad. I didn't know her for her celebrity, TV hosting or modelling work. I knew her for her words alone. Online friendships, they're real, you know. I didn't know Charlotte Dawson away from Twitter, but I feel like I knew what she stood for.

Her death is so tragic. She was present on our TV screens and she reached out to so many yet must have felt terribly alone. Depression does not discriminate.

Rest in peace, Charlotte Dawson. Thank you for the tweets. Thank you for the friendship. My thoughts are with your family and friends - I know they're hurting right now.

If you need to talk to someone, please contact Lifeline: 13 11 14.

 

On cyber bullying and social media experts.

It's late. I've got an article to write, a TV show to watch, and a Twitter chat to participate in. But the awful bullying toward Charlotte Dawson that led to her hospitalisation is still on my mind. I have a few thoughts. I don't want to go into it in detail - so many publications have already.

I don't think the answer to cyber bullying is to switch off the computer or phone. The internet is real life so there's no separation between real life and the virtual world. Talking to people online is real life because we are real people (and nasty online behaviour is so worrying - what are these bullies like without the protection of the screen?). Real people communicating in real time, even the fake profiles.

I feel for the children and adolescents who are on the receiving end of cyber bullying who don't have the adequate coping skills or support networks to handle the bullies.

I really like Bush Babe's post on the topic. You should read it.

People say that if you put yourself out there as a journalist or a blogger, or in the media sphere, you're asking for criticism. To me that's like saying a woman wearing a short skirt is asking for it. Sure online journalists, bloggers and tweeters are open to two way communication, but I think there has to be an agreement for any two way interaction with a person - the agreement may be implicit through responding to polite comments. But often trolls just come uninvited, criticising personal traits and appearance, and not constructively contributing to the online conversation.

I'd also like to see more commenters and experts on social media actually engaging in and understanding social media: most people I know who comment negatively or develop social media policies have never participated in it and are too scared to. This needs to change.

What are your thoughts?