It’s an ordinary day in the ancient city of Pompeii. Mount Vesuvius is growling, but that’s been going on for years. For now, the streets are busy with merchants, farmers, shopkeepers, laborers and soldiers going about their business. A weaver named Successus pauses before a wall and scratches graffiti onto it meant for Severus, his rival for the affections of a barmaid named Iris: “Envious one, why do you get in the way? Submit to a handsomer man and one who is being treated very wrongly.” Severus replies: “You love Iris, but she does not love you.” This bit of history comes to us from Alison Cooley, a historian at the University of Warwick in England who studies various types of Pompeii graffiti that was preserved in volcanic ash.

Ancient graffiti found in Pompei has been likened to today’s social media. There are similarities, such as “where several people wrote messages, rather like an internet comment thread,” as observed by journalist Tom Standage in his book Writing on the Wall: Social Media – The First 2,000 Years, and both are means of communication which allow ordinary people to share and respond to messages in a public space. The difference is if Successus or Severus regretted what they wrote, or became embarrassed by it because Iris the barmaid ditched the both of them for another suitor, they could go back and remove it, but today’s internet leaves a digital footprint, which is the trail of data created when you post comments and send emails. These can be copied, shared, reposted, and then distributed widely even when the original source is no longer available. Cyberspace is an apt name for the internet because it is so vast.

It has brought us great gifts. Business deals are closed faster, merchants can reach millions in an instant, online magazines, or E-mags, avoid the cost of publishing in print- and all are just a click away – one needn’t travel to do business or shop. The downside to this is our becoming more sedentary.

Unfortunately, thieves and scoundrels are also just a click away. If you do online banking, if you use a credit card to purchase online, you’re at risk from hackers. There’s a whole industry dedicated to keeping your transactions and identity safe. Deed theft is an issue. Security experts warn that when you pay off your mortgage the lender’s oversight disappears once the loan is satisfied. When the title is fully yours it is no longer institutionally monitored – so you’d better take your own protective steps. The thieves have been with us since the beginning of time, cyberspace just makes it high tech.

Now on to the scoundrels. Although the information super highway of words and images may educate, enlighten and entertain, it can also be the home of hateful commentary, a conduit for revenge porn and the playground of catty photo editors, all a form of cyber-bullying. And with posting and reposting, the damage is not only incredibly wide but virtually forever. Not only could Successus and Severus remove their postings if they chose to (or inspired by Iris the barmaid’s new boyfriend), but its visibility was limited to foot traffic.

This “take the good with the bad” aspect is necessary with any human enterprise because being human it will have weakness as well as grandeur. But cyberspace is made vast with its posting and reposting. Not only can this make the original source ultimately anonymous, encouraging depravity, it also becomes virtually eternal, and thus uncommonly cruel. Small-minded little fish let loose in a big pond.

As cyberbullying has become more prevalent many states now include prohibiting it under their laws. It’s especially harmful for children who haven’t grown a thick enough skin to weather this ugly side of human nature. UNICEF reports: “Laws against bullying, particularly on cyberbullying, are relatively new and still do not exist everywhere. This is why many countries rely on other relevant laws, such as ones against harassment, to punish serious forms of cyberbullying. In countries that have specific laws on cyberbullying, online behaviour that deliberately causes serious emotional distress is seen as criminal activity. In some of these countries, victims of cyberbullying can seek protection, prohibit communication from a specified person and restrict the use of electronic devices used by that person for cyberbullying, temporarily or permanently.”

Politicians supporting campaigns to raise awareness about the dangers of this is also a positive step. Sadly, when it comes to online bullying of children, much of it is done by other children. As a society, did we not see this “Lord of the Flies” moment coming? Did the internet’s commercial potential blind us? Or, like the children in Lord of the Flies, did they learn their behavior from watching us while we weren’t noticing?

A big, beautiful pond, it’s edges ringed by lush flora, stately trees reflected in its waters, and just below the surface a dense swarm of minnows circling and circling.