Group targeting possibilities

The impact of certain types of games can be predicted, however the challenge of redirecting some individuals before can be extremely difficult. Games with guns or those which simulate control of others behaviours e.g. Roblox prison guard duties can provide opportunities for others to more easily target specific individuals for bullying in a group versus targeting by only one person. Games such as Fortnite allow individuals to vary their experience playing by themselves against the computer software versus playing with various quantities of other players. Knowing the risks when playing by yourself in advance before starting these types of games is helpful however it requires parents or therapists to have significant advanced knowledge of the details of options within the actual game. Being able to keep up with these can be extremely challenging and expensive time wise and financially. Talking through options for usernames / avatars which are less visible as identifying specific people in advance is not always possible. The depth of content from years of interaction online before someone may be in a role to assist can be difficult to go back through to re-organise for greater protection or individuals may be highly resistant to altering usernames because of the buildup of friends online and value of their content that they have earned through significant hours of work.

Online services with group activities where individuals can be specifically targeted and herded into specifically controlled roles or actions needs to be monitored and cautioned in their usage for individuals who experience this type of bullying in their real world as well as potentially online. Gaming providers conduct their own research in real time collecting data where they can review the step by step interaction across a number of users interacting with each other on their platform. This information is used to manage complaints / reports of abuse of the sites policies.