Scrolls on social media overflow with explosions, displacement and distress. Bombings at one scroll, skincare reviews at the next, as deadly floods and the displacement of millions interrupt edits of celebrities walking the red carpet. In recent years, the speed at which viewers intake content has increased dramatically, forcing audiences to internalize a surge of news content. The continuous stream and overexposure to catastrophic events through various media platforms lead to desensitization in citizens around the world. The sheer volume of distressing content depicting world events creates distance between the audience and the event, leading to lower engagement in important topics.
Years ago, coverage of an earthquake or flood would dominate the media for days. Now, footage of dire world events, like the relentless bombings in Gaza, only trends until the next celebrity steps a toe out of line. The culture of brief impressions and five-second attention spans creates an environment that cultivates low understanding and minimal positive change. An overthrown government blends with wildfire coverage across an ocean, which blends with makeup reviews. Then recipes, the newest iPhone and jokes flood “for you” pages. Tragedy, humor and consumerism crowd the same screen, each vying for attention. Fast-paced media aims to divide an individual’s attention across all subjects, categories and topics, causing viewers to become desensitized and disengaged.
“I remember when I was little, the news didn’t seem to be so saturated with such disastrous events every day. Now every time I turn on the news or look at TikTok, I’m hit with tragedy after tragedy. I have a lot of empathy for those going through these disasters, not to discount anything that they’re going through, but it’s extremely hard to keep up and internalize each and every one,” magnet junior Mia Beaumont said.
A term coined compassion fatigue by Carla Joinson in 1992 explains the psychological phenomenon as a state of exhaustion resulting from the prolonged or excessive exposure to the suffering of others. The initial video and individual views of hospitals sustaining damage from bombs trigger shock. The twentieth video triggers discomfort, and the hundredth induces nothing at all. Social platforms such as TikTok only intensify this effect, as continuous overexposure to distressing events does not provide audiences with time to digest and react to such occurrences. An era when television news prompted families to reflect, digest and react to events has since passed. A user now opens an app for two minutes and encounters hospital bombings, police brutality, war reports and beyond. The algorithms controlling apps like TikTok reward novelty and quick stimulation, not impact, reflection or urgency. The fast-paced social media’s inability to spark deep, thoughtful reflection creates a culture that fails to value real support. For example, heart emojis serve as substitutes for financial aid or volunteer hours, rapid petitions emerge with zero long-term commitment and audiences exhibit five-second sympathy with no compassion. Exhaustion and overexposure from fast-paced media drives the shift from true empathy and connection to catastrophic events to hollow reactions that fade in an instant.
Certain critics argue that global visibility and exposure to world events foster engaged and informed citizens. They highlight developments such as Black Lives Matter as an example of grassroots movements incited through social media platforms such as TikTok and Facebook. Opposing respondents explain that a single recording or documentation can amplify suffering that traditional media outlets may ignore.
“When I see things like murder and tragedy on the internet, I still feel really bad for the people who are in those situations. When I heard about the events happening in Sudan, I felt a lot of empathy for those people. A lot of people just scroll by, but for me, sure, I scroll, but I talk and think about the events and how I can help,” magnet junior Daniel O’Connell said.
Undeniably, exposure to these events has the potential to urge audiences toward action. For instance, donations increase after a hurricane, or a GoFundMe reaches its goal after gaining traction online. While awareness holds value, vast and shallow exposure fails to promote sustainable, long-term momentum that leads to true change. An extreme volume of subjection to distressing events overwhelms individuals more quickly than it will encourage them to contribute to change. The cycle of compassion fatigue mirrors that of the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. People learn that no matter how many videos they hear, the global pain will continue without interruption, posing distance from these events as a simpler option than engagement. When tragedy blends with jokes and product links to creators that earn commissions, the suffering of millions hides behind a finger and a scroll. If an audience stops to pause, reflect and truly understand an issue, empathy will breathe life back into the minds of citizens around the world.
