Yesterday I scrolled past a reel about human trafficking, a meme about depression, a video of a dog dancing, and a horrific true crime case… all in under a minute. Social media has turned our generation into a desensitized dystopia, in which we scroll past life-altering tragedies without a second thought. Social media has overloaded us with constant information, rapid emotional switches, and endless tragedies, leaving us desensitized to the world around us.Â
We Are Consuming Too Much Pain
Human beings were never meant to feel so many different emotions in the span of minutes. The more we scroll, the more we intake, stifling emotions of shock, empathy, and most of all, our ability to reflect. Social media exposes us to global causes 24/7. There is always something new to watch: something more appalling, more horrific. Nothing feels truly shocking anymore. This can even be seen in comment sections; a reel about a horrific sexual assault has thousands of comments making jokes, criticizing the victim’s appearence, or asking invasive questions. The emotional fatigue from chronic social media use has led to numbness, not compassion.Â
Desensitization and Meme Culture
Meme culture has taken over social media, turning horrific events into quick and cheap laughs. There are countless examples: a meme of an AI-generated Jeffery Epstein dancing, a sexualized depiction of 17-year-old Junko Furata, and George Floyd’s last words, “I can’t breathe,” on t-shirts. In a world where every tragedy becomes a joke, where do we draw the line? The difference between coping and avoidance thins by the day. When every emotion is reduced to a meme, real feelings become inconvenient, therefore desensitizing us in our daily lives. How can Gen Z take anything seriously if even the most heinous crimes turn into a joke?
How to Act
Desensitization is a huge problem in today’s society. Desensitization is a natural response to overstimulation, which social media contributes to. The first step to ending this phenomenon is noticing emotional numbness in yourself; ignoring it further disconnects us from ourselves. To combat emotional desensitization brought about by social media, lessen your consumption: set a time limit for TikTok and Instagram, reduce daily screen time, or indulge in more positive social media platforms (like Pinterest). Take pauses to reflect after seeing heavy content: ask yourself what you are feeling and why. Another way is to curate your feed: click “Not interested” on desensitizing content and allow yourself to enjoy lighter videos instead.Â
In conclusion, the emotional numbness brought on by social media does not mean we have lost our ability to feel; we are just overwhelmed. In a world that tries to numb human emotion, we deserve to feel, not only for ourselves but as a collective.Â