By Lilian Song '27
A study in 2021 found that 43% percent of people found themselves to be less empathetic and sensitive, and pointed social media as the root cause.
While the virtual world has reached its peak in cyberbullying cases with a reported 64.7% of children claiming to be bullied online, our efforts to combat this have ceased. Thousands of individuals have become bystanders in the face of bullying or oppression, numb and insensitive to its harms. Our society has embarked on a downward spiral, marked by increasing insensitivity and heartlessness towards the everyday atrocities.
The culprit of our cold-heartedness is social media: specifically, the multi-billion-dollar companies behind it who profit from our addiction to its endless programmed content, who put profit above issues of cyberbullying and mental health.
Social media exacerbates our society’s insensitivity in two main ways.
Firstly, social media corporations utilize their platforms and detailed algorithms to actively recommend more violent videos, especially towards minors. For example, YouTube, one of the largest media businesses in the world, has been repeatedly accused of recommending graphic videos of gun shootings and R-rated movies to underage children. Young adolescents are especially susceptible to the harms of insensitivity as they are more gullible and trusting. They are more prone to develop addictions to these forms of media.
Increased exposure to violently inappropriate content has seen to cause a reduction in empathy among adults too. A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 2009 found that excessive viewing of these types of violent media reduced participants' feelings of empathy, minimizing their reaction and sensitivity developed towards the victims of abuse portrayed in the media.
Secondly, more exposure to verbal assault incited by social media’s unique platform for anonymous free speech contributes to the rising insensitivity. By anonymizing users online, people are more comfortable with seeing someone being attacked, often disregarding the real-life implication of those words. These open forums are often what causes gradual insensitivity towards issues such as hate speech or cyberbullying. The social implications of insensitivity stem directly from the rise of trolling and online harassment. As users continue to act as bystanders in online conflicts, it translates to more violence in real life, hurting more people in the real world.
Remaining sensitive is integral to our society, as it is the basis of our moral judgement - what pushes us to do the “right thing” and the motivation to strive for the best version of ourselves.
Insensitivity to violence means more uncontrolled conflicts and hate-fuelled attacks. A study from the National Library of Medicine found a correlation between viewers of aggression on social media, and real-life domestic abuse. The study concluded that an increased exposure to violence online meant more unprovoked attacks and violence in real life.
Society’s gradual reduction in empathy also means less attention is paid to many victims of domestic or physical abuse. For example, high-profile cases such as the controversy surrounding NFL player Ray Rice, who was initially given a lenient punishment after video evidence surfaced of him assaulting his then-fiancée. This case highlighted the tendency for society to downplay or ignore domestic violence, siding with the aggressor rather than the victim.
As we continue to neglect the rising obstacle: our lack of empathy, there is a false allusion of awareness. As a video of a dying baby from the Ukranian war circulates on Instagram, it may have 40 million views, but most people quickly scrolled past it. We think we’re achieving awareness, in the sense that more people have been reached, or have been informed about the atrocities we see. But we aren’t, because most people don’t bother to care.
Senior Editor: Kelly Lee '25
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