Cyberbullying is on the rise with methods becoming meaner, including posting photos and videos on social networking websites.

A report by the University of New Hampshire's Crimes Against Children Research Center said the number of young Americans between the ages 10 to 17 who experienced online harassment has gone up by 50 percent from 2000 to 2005.

The same report said the number of youth who admitted they made rude or nasty remarks to another person through the Internet rose from 14 to 28 percent for the same 5-year period.

Corinne David-Ferdon, a health scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, demoaned the lack of sufficient research data on the subject. Cyberbullying recently gained national attention after someone posted on YouTube a video clip of five Florida high school girls beating another girl, who previously posted nasty comments about the five girls on MySpace.

Cyberbullying is worse than face-to-face bullying because it gives the ridicule a worldwide audience, Bill Bond of the National Association of Secondary School Principals told USA Today.

Some victims of cyberbullying have been driven to commit suicide.

To address the abuse of social networking sites, Facebook joined 49 states and the District of Colombia in crafting a new safety deal that agreed on an 11-point safety plan which includes removal of Facebook Groups dedicated to incest, pedophilia, cyberbullying and other topics that violate the portal's terms of services.