Graphic by Mona Bezzaz

desensitization (noun) – indifference to witnessing those who are suffering, resulted from frequent exposure.

Read that again.

In the age of social media and 24-hour news cycles, this phenomenon has quickly become a staple in our defensive systems. What used to upset us now elicits little to no emotion, but are we even aware? 

Your nightly TikTok scrolls may have looked something like this: Palestinian children buried under rubble, edit of character from a Netflix show, bombs being dropped in Ukraine, a Wingstop mukbang, a new bill being passed restricting rights for minorities, etc. While this combination sounds cynical, it’s the reality for younger generations online. This is context collapse, when two pieces of content with opposite emotional stakes exist in the same viewing space. The emotional tug-of-war blurs the line between horror and apathy, causing many of us to confuse tragic events as another post to swipe past.

The problem begins when we normalize being desensitized, believing that there’s nothing we can do to solve the world’s issues. The words, ‘I’m so desensitized’ mean nothing if no work is being done to counteract it. Blocking accounts that post regularly about politics and refusing to keep up with the news is unproductive. Dismissing atrocities as ‘too confusing’ and not engaging with social media posts because reposting could ruin your Instagram aesthetic is ignorant. If we continue to shrug our shoulders, we will only become more fatigued and complacent with the world’s issues.

Due to their dominance in both the online world and the consumer market, Gen-Z is on track to becoming the most influential generation. When such a generation doesn’t acknowledge world events that upset them, they send a message that those issues aren’t important. This mindset becomes more harmful when we exhibit a great deal of care in shallower things. This is selective empathy, and it shows world leaders and higher-ups that we can be distracted into silence. If we have the power to make change by speaking out, then the excuse of being too upset to recognize genocides and atrocities is no longer valid. We’ve traded our morals for convenience, forgetting that the content we’ve deemed ‘too distressing to watch’ is the reality millions are forced to live in.

We must stop using desensitization as a defense mechanism and view it instead as a warning. To be numb to suffering is dangerous and goes against basic human instincts. If we force ourselves to sit in discomfort, we can recognize the gravity of these crises and be more compelled to make a change.

Read the definition one last time. If it doesn’t evoke any feelings of unsettlement, you’re becoming a spectator to your humanity. The world is collapsing and it’s time we reclaim our responsibility to care.