After what we’ve been through it’s OK to feel differently, and it is more important than ever to look after our physical and mental wellbeing.

This week we’ve looked to our cyber experts to pull together the most common advice to prevent our online platforms becoming anti-social media.

The use of social media has been a lifeline for many, keeping us in touch with friends, family and businesses during a year of restrictions and some rapid changes.

While it is a useful tool it can be misused and there is a darker side to social media.

With our social media accounts it’s not always just our friends and family that see content, but strangers, acquaintances and others we wouldn’t normally engage with.

On open forums, groups and even in private messages we can receive unwelcome and unwarranted comments that can escalate and become a big problem.

Children and young people may be particularly vulnerable to cyber bullying. With limited contact with their peers over the last year, more and more of them are living their lives online.

There are steps you can take if you find yourself victim to cyber bullying or trolling. These include:

l Not responding to comments.

l Blocking the individual.

l Changing your privacy settings.

l Speaking to a family member or friend to talk through how the comments made you feel.

l Reporting the website being used.

Over the last couple of years there have been some high-profile suicides where online bullying and trolling have been cited as a factor.

This has opened a conversation about how we behave online - with information, news, adverts and other content available continually and instantly, we are also able to respond and comment immediately without perhaps giving full thought and reflection to what we’re saying.

When posting we should all be considerate about the message we’re putting out and how this could be perceived by others.

There is a fine line between criticism of someone’s actions or behaviour and a personal attack on an individual.

Attacks should no more be tolerated in the virtual world they would be in the actual world.

In order to avoid being drawn into any escalation into behaviour which is inappropriate.

We can all ask ourselves some simple questions:

Would you say or do this in front of your partner, children or parents?

Would you say or do this in front of a colleague of the same sex?

Would you like to see your behaviour reported in the local press?

Would you like a member of your family to be on the receiving end of behaviour the same as yours?

With some simple steps and a little thought we can all enjoy the benefits that social media brings.

For more tools and links you can read the full article on areyouok.gov.im or if you would like to speak to someone call the community support and information line team on 686262.