Experts state that exposure to violent incidents on social media can lead to social desensitization, and that individuals who remain unresponsive or consent to violence being portrayed as ordinary or even good will have their perception of what is good and right altered.
Sociologist Dr. Berat Dağ noted that the live broadcasting of violence on social media and the increase in such violent incidents pose a serious risk to the future of social continuity, stating, “If solutions to prevent such incidents cannot be developed, it is likely that in the future we will encounter masses who perceive violence as ordinary, good, right, and beautiful. Individuals, with the support of these contents, may become desensitized to violence or may not shy away from perpetrating violence themselves.”
Dr. Berat Dağ from Üsküdar University, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Sociology, evaluated the impact of live broadcasting violent incidents on social media on society.
The relationship between social media and society is complex
Dr. Dağ stated that the relationship between social media and society can be said to be quite complex, saying, “Considering this relationship, social media can be thought to have a neutral, negative, or positive effect on social events. Therefore, social media can influence the diagnosis and resolution process of violent social events, just as it can also be effective in the normalization and widespread adoption of these mentioned events. At this point, the question of how the social media content encountered is evaluated becomes important. In cases where individuals cannot critically address violent incidents they encounter on social media, the probability of them detaching from social life in anxiety, fear, and horror increases. On the other hand, when individuals remain at a level of consciousness open to the negative effects of such content, they can also become subjects of the existing violent environment.”
Social desensitization and the normalization of violence
Dağ, stating that exposure to violent incidents on social media can lead to social desensitization, continued:
“Individuals' constant exposure to violence-focused content on social media can also trigger a social desensitization to violence. In other words, individuals frequently encountering such content on social media can lead them to, for example, not be able to distinguish between an ordinary cartoon and news of an injury, murder, or massacre. In this context, the perception of what is good and right will change for individuals who remain unresponsive or consent to violence being portrayed as ordinary or even good. Today, with the contribution of social media, it is possible to speak of the emergence of masses who become subjects of violence to the extent that social desensitization becomes continuous on a global scale.”
Live broadcasting of armed fights…
Dr. Berat Dağ, pointing out that social media alone is not an indicator of the state of social values, said, “Because social life contains plural and complex aspects to an extent that social media cannot directly reflect. For this reason, it can be argued that cooperative, competitive, and conflictual relationships simultaneously continue on a social level. Nevertheless, the proliferation of such violent incidents, which are now becoming viewable, also points to a clear risk for the future of social continuity. If solutions to prevent such incidents cannot be developed, it is likely that in the future we will encounter masses who perceive violence as ordinary, good, right, and beautiful.”
How does TikTok facilitate the rapid spread of violent content?
Dağ stated that platforms like TikTok have a quality that allows individuals to engage in multiple interactions with each other in seconds, saying, “Therefore, these platforms can facilitate the spread of any content in a very short time. The main problem here is related to the lack of a specific foundation, rules, and control in the context of the rapid spread of this content. In other words, the extent to which content rapidly spread from these and similar platforms is reliable is an important question. For this reason, thinking about the production and consumption of technology that offers an alternative to the bombardment of violence spreading from social media always retains its importance.”
Does it affect moral values?
Dr. Berat Dağ concluded his remarks as follows:
“The publication of violent incidents on social media can have many moral consequences. In this framework, individuals exposed to violent content may turn towards an individualistic practice where they are actively or passively absorbed only in their own interests. More concretely, with the support of this content, individuals may become desensitized to violence or not shy away from perpetrating violence themselves. On the other hand, the same individuals, by critically interpreting this content, can also turn to social movements to prevent violent incidents. That is, individuals can begin to seek the possibilities of a more just, equal, free, and cooperative social life by using social media for the prevention of such incidents.”