Abstract
The aim of the paper is to focus on cyberbullying (Donegan in Elon J Undergrad Res Commun 3(1):33–42, 2012) affecting the community of hunters in Poland. The investigation reveals that linguistic aggression pervades more and more spheres of our lives and the Internet, which gives anonymity and physical distance, is the main forum of cyberbullying. The researchers investigate the material gathered from websites such as “Ludzie przeciw myśliwym” [Humans against hunters], hunting-related blogs and Facebook sites devoted to hunting and related to persons who are known to be hunters (e.g. spokesmen of the Polish Hunting Association). The problem of the stereotypical perception of hunting is also raised (Bartmiński and Chlebda in Etnolingwistyka 25:69–95, 2003. https://doi.org/10.17951/et.2013.25.69). The issues of prejudice, stereotyping and lack of knowledge result in the possibility of inciting people to cyberbully others. People brought up in cities, far away from nature, are easily convinced to attack other groups which they perceive as deviant (Bartmiński and Chlebda 2003). The verbal aggression deeply rooted in stereotypes and prejudice based on limited knowledge of nature, overly idealistic and naïve worldviews becomes more and more widespread. Therefore, the authors intend to provide some insight into the problem of cyberbullying of hunters in Poland in order to find the patterns of that activity from socio-semiotic perspective analyzing verbal signs and symbols used to justify that sort of behaviour as well as socio-linguistic perspective concerning the usage of emotion-loaded language. Additionally psycho-linguistic issues will be touched upon as well as the problem of shaping the image of hunters by media will be discussed.
Highlights
The Internet and social media are an important source of information and creating attitudes especially among younger age groups [1]
Cyberbullying is a relatively new phenomenon which has occurred with the emergence of the ubiquitous Internet and social media pervading all spheres of our lives in contemporary Information Age
The fact that the messages are mostly filled with the emotions such as hatred, aggression, contempt and the merits are not taken into account make such messages instances of cyberbullying
Summary
The Internet and social media are an important source of information and creating attitudes especially among younger age groups [1]. The freedom and unrestricted publicity of comments mean that we use this medium very often and without inhibitions. The profiled accounts of famous people (celebrities) and the information they contain are observed by huge numbers of followers. Among the many topics that are the subject of public debates, discussions and disputes that cause great emotions are sustainable wild game management and, above all, hunting. An example in this regard may be the activity of a Polish journalist who frequently posts comments on her social media profile On “I Would Kill the Director and Teachers in the School”
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