POSSIBLE TW PLEASE DON’T READ IF YOU ARE IN A VULNERABLE STATE OF MIND
I go by the name of @stinkysteff on byte and over the past few days, I’ve seen a lot of toxic behaviour. It’s beyond upsetting to see… Byte should be a place of acceptance however I am terrified to post because I’m scared of refreshing my page and seeing 4+ comments about how i’m disgusting.
I used to wake up every morning and happily get ready for my next byte, i used to love making content. However, when i open the app now i see nothing but abuse, body shaming and arguments. It makes me fearful of this app.
I’ve been in a really bad state for the past 5 years. At school I was heavily bullied and beaten due to my weight and general style, this forced me into dropping out at just the age of 15 (I’m almost 18 now). As i have no grades or anything, i’ve been doing nothing for the past 2 years. I would just waste away in bed. I was miserable.
This year my mentality has been at an all time low. I would cry myself to sleep every night, my throat would be scratched, my head would pound and my eyes were bloodshot constantly. I felt as if i was going insane, as if my head was about to burst…
During lockdown I saw an advert for byte on Instagram, saying that alt people were welcome etc. I remember feeling my legs tremble. Have I finally found a place where i belonged?
I quickly downloaded it and customised my account, all of the posts were so positive. Everyone was new and friendly. The older Byters were welcoming and helped us understand, I quickly became obsessed with the app. I found something to believe in.
Everything was going well until about a week or 2 ago one of my videos blew up insanely. This evidently meant that all the cruel people started commenting nasty things I tried to report every single one of them however they just kept coming over and over again. At first it didn’t bother me. However, as the comments got more frequent it became harder to ignore.
This week, the abuse I’ve seen others and myself get is disgusting. Everyone is arguing, insulting each other and even accusing each other of doing malicious things. It’s overall horrible to see.
IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH SOMEONE WHO SPEAK TO REGULARLY ON BYTE, FIX IT TOGETHER PRIVATELY!!! WHAT YOU’RE SAYING ONLINE AFFECTS OTHERS TOO
These sort of posts are overwhelmingly frustrating to see, it makes my stomach ache. It makes me depressed
I just want to know what you guys think about the toxic behaviour on this app, I’m sorry this post is pretty long, I just have a lot in my head.
Stay strong, i love you