Is Ignorance Bliss? A Dive Into Social Media and the Desensitisation of the Younger Generation.

By Hanna Wahab

What exactly is desensitisation? The official definition is stated as “the process of causing someone to experience something, usually an emotion or a pain, less strongly than before”, with the rise of social media, particularly with the likes of TikTok and Instagram and endless scrolling, users are more likely to be exposed to an unprecedented amount of news and major world events, mostly negative, such as terrorist attacks, shootings, wars, conflicts, and other events, due to how interconnected the world has become now, generations that came before Millenials and Gen-Z did not have the same level of access to the information that we have now, despite them going through similar world events, but they are not as impacted by it as the younger generations have been. Although it is good for awareness, is it good for the mental well-being of users? Being exposed to these many negative world events has made the younger generations desensitised, as well as normalizing these events.

I remember when I was studying for my A-Levels, in class I overheard a discussion among my classmates, “Have you heard what’s going on in China?”, “Yeah, it doesn’t impact me though, so I don’t care”, this conversation was referring to the news of the potential concentration camps held in China, when I heard this, I was horrified at the response, and I since then realized, we do not look at major world events as events that impact real people anymore, we look at it as something that is happening in the background, and we consider it a norm.

There are countless examples of negative news being shared and re-shared on social media, but one example that I will delve into, where the desensitisation of the younger generation made themselves apparent, is the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Putin, what comes to mind when you read the name? A brutal dictator that is responsible for unjust actions? Or ‘#Vladdydaddy’? In early 2022, Russia launched a ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine. Quickly, the news of the invasion spread globally, particularly on social media. However, it was not like any regular viral sharing of news, this very quickly became a trend. Many users made jokes about the situation that was taking place via memes, but there was nothing funny about war. Some argued that the memes were used as a ‘coping mechanism’, specifically for those directly impacted by the war, as understandably, no one wanted to acknowledge the true brutality.

However, it was not just people who were directly impacted that were participating, people far away from the country, sheltered and safe, not directly impacted, were also participating. Quickly we were desensitised to the struggles of the Ukrainians, we were not empathetic to the cause and we dismissed their cries for help through the spread of memes, we made a legitimate war look like a parody, and a dictator looks like a satirical villain in a comedy show.

This is the issue with the use of social media and major world events, we no longer can show empathy to those suffering, and it’s becoming more and more difficult to do so due to the constant exposure and ridiculing of major events, that they are not taken seriously anymore.

It is no doubt that social media addiction is a serious case, and the constant exposure to negative news has impacted the generation mentally. We must take steps to search for alternatives to be aware of the world around us. So, is ignorance bliss? Is it better for the younger generations to not have unlimited access to all of this information?