Scrolling Through Tragedy: Are we becoming numb to real-life crises?
Picture yourself studying for hours and drowning in deadlines, so you decide to take a break and pull out your phone. While scrolling, you see a video captioned, “First World War, kinda nervous”, followed by a“We got files at home” meme. Within seconds, you saw two gruesome events that shook people globally. But just because you saw it, does it mean you understand it?
The raging war took the lives of young children, and the discourse regarding files about the notorious trafficking scandal involving elites led to memes. But when scrolling within seconds, you don’t register the severity. On social media, it is just another piece of content, another meme; we laugh and scroll; that is exactly how desensitisation happens. Humour creates emotional distance, and thus, violent events repackaged as content make the audience less sensitive to them. We can lock our phones and go about our lives, but real people who were impacted by these events cannot. Mrug et al. (2015) say exposure to violent media reduces empathy and sensitivity toward victims.
BracU students are active across social media and have seen such content consistently. Ammatul Ayesha (Sophomore, SLS) says, “Such memes cross a limit that I can’t stand.” While Nafisa Tabassum (Junior, ANT) argues, “It’s not that deep.”
Conflicting opinions will exist, but it is up to us to decide whether to be respectful or not. Because today victims are others, tomorrow it can be us; and others will make memes about our suffering because it’s “Just jokes.” As they say, be the change to lead the change.
