Desensitization of a Generation: Is social media making us numb?
Social media has opened us to a new world of information that is received in an instant but has it caused more harm than we have foreseen?
With the current age of technology, we face an issue that was not clear to us until we were knee-deep. A general inability to fully grasp everything that is presented to us, a form of desensitization that is present in many that use social media. We can share experiences almost as fast as they are happening before us. We can now see what the world sees. The level of information available to us in an instant becomes a blessing and a curse.
The online world has become our escape and is currently one of the largest sources of information available. One goes through the motions of browsing the internet, each one developing a niche where they source things from news to entertainment. Social media has become the new hub for all sorts of interactions. I no longer use any physical form of newspaper or magazine, receiving most of my daily news from online platforms. Things have become even more convenient and allow us to find almost anything online. If it pops into my head then I can find many things related to the topic.
Social media has begun to insert itself more into our daily lives by providing a variety of both entertainment and news. With access easier with apps on our smartphones, social media is not only fast to access but also fast to upload. With a look into Facebook, I can see what people I know are talking about and also receive links to news that they share. With one app, I have access to the world that is presented on a screen that fits in the palm of my hand.
Events are happening throughout the world at all times. Today it has become easier to record down the things that happen daily. When something huge happens, it tends to cause a surge of coverage. The surge happens after natural disasters and events that affect a large group of people. It almost becomes impossible to avoid seeing a headline relating to the event. Once it passes we tend to move on to the next thing. We begin to see it and immediately pass it on only having it for a moment or two.
An event that we have seen happen over the last year several times are school shootings. Every time this event occurs we see the surge start up again and it has reached the point of “Oh, there was another school shooting.” People lost their lives in these events and they have become another passing moment. There were a number of them that happened in the United States but as traumatic as they were I would not be able to tell you exactly when or where the event took place. I am sure those directly affected would be able to recall but as an outsider looking in these events begin to blur together. It is something that I hate to admit but I believe it is important to address.
Natural disasters also share this fate. With large coverage right after the event and very little being shared after the fact. People give their support and much is done to help in the immediate time following the event. After coverage is slowed so does the support and the amount of people that continue to share. Over the last year, we have seen a hurricane devastate the coasts of states and fire takes out a large area of the Amazon Rainforest. Although the surge of coverage has ended for these events we continue to live with the aftermath.
After the events, there is typically a path that is opened that allows others to bring up other points. The original becomes a stepping stone and no longer the main talking point. This transition is important for more things to be brought up but it diminishes the initial event. In a way, it gives it value due to the ability for it to branch into more. Yet, this branching out never really has an end to it in sight.
Social media has given us a window in which we can easily look through. Acting as a window we can observe from a comfortable space and although we see the events unfold one does not fully experience it. I believe this may be the source of our desensitization. As things are constantly moving past us we can only retain so much before it just becomes another view.
With the safety and comfort being provided to us from our screens have we become numb to the events of the world. I can say that I have seen it change us but it can still be changed by the individual. One can choose to let things pass by our little window or we can open it little by little and let it soak in.
