is the internet like social media killing empathy?
| It is more so a tool to expand consumerism; otherwise, the public would not have access to it. Even as is; many websites are being forced to moderate more. I am uncertain if it removes empathy, but that may just be a result of seeing news in general. As an example, blm scheme of using their money to buy large mansions. A lot of beggers are frauds. Greed is the root of all evil while knowledge can put many people in doubt towards giving so freely. |
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| Never -> It does not, it is just the tool which allows you to communicate and interact with others on the larger scale which was not possible in past, it is the same as spreading rumours but in a advanced format. As often said, "Back than when the internet was not available, only the people from the village knew that someone was dumb" - something like that is often reposted in memes/other stuff which says it in nutshell. From my pov I'd say the thing/event which kills empathy is -> Trauma/Crazy Negative Life Experiences/Being a Victim and surviving any type of Crime/Being involved or Victim of a War conflict |
| Yes and no? There is a case to be made that media as a whole is killing empathy. Most people don't have an unlimited capacity to care. You can only care so much. So dulling ones emotional responses and comparmentalizing - only caring about what happens to you and your nearest pears - are coping strategies that develop due to the constant barrage of information that we are subjected to. But this isn't specific to social media. This penomenon was already lamented during the high-eras of television. The only difference is that with social media it's flood of information is even more massive and barrage constant. |
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| The problem is that "empathy" has been twisted by and distorted by malicious people. The only "empathy" they want is strictly following their dogma. So I don't give a fuck about what they have to say. I am plenty empathetic to the people who I feel actually deserve it. |
 This ground is soiled by those before me and their lies. I dare not look up for on me I feel their eyes |
| Yes - to there being an argument that the phenomenon exists. No - to that it's social media or the internet specifically. |
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| No, if anything social media often helps people become more aware of certain issues and recognize the suffering of others. I feel like people are more empathetic now compared to a few decades ago. |
| No, the internet made me more empathetic. What is killing empathy is channer bullshit and the design of social media with it's algorithms and point systems that encourage conflict. |
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Amityblight said: 149597871 said: No, if anything social media often helps people become more aware of certain issues and recognize the suffering of others. I feel like people are more empathetic now compared to a few decades ago. You are straight up capping bro. Internet killed being empathy unless you a girl or hot guy. Like... how are looks even related in this case? Prior to the invention of the internet and social media, most people around the world were living very isolated lives where they were completely unaware of the struggles people outside of their community were facing. Sure, it can be used to spread hatred as well, but I don't think social media is making people less empathetic on average. |
Amityblight said: 149597871 said: Like... how are looks even related in this case? Prior to the invention of the internet and social media, most people around the world were living very isolated lives where they were completely unaware of the struggles people outside of their community were facing. Sure, it can be used to spread hatred as well, but I don't think social media is making people less empathetic on average. https://youtu.be/G-qgARGjT6s Video prime example People die everyday where the empathy. We have selective empathy. People still live isolated lives they just inner thought leak online. Prime example of what? "Selective empathy" is the wrong term. I don't understand people who get mad because you've shared a tragic story and demand you do the same for the other 300,000 people who have died that day. In this case, they are the ones being insensitive, not the person sharing the story. "Hundreds of thousands of people around the world die every day. Where are their stories?" - The Amazing Atheist reacting to a 15-year old Canadian girl who had just killed herself at the time. His video might be made with good intentions but he ends up looking like such a douchebag. Don't be that person, Amity! |
| The internet has allowed me to learn of many problems that people unjustly have to suffer through, and that has allowed me to be more empathetic towards some. But it has also caused me to see just how many evil people are out there too. And if I'm in a sour mood, my empathy for such folk can get below zero. |
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| No I don't think so. Empathy is a skill you can develope through life experiences and social interactions. Unless someone relies solely on social media to fill their social needs, then maybe it will affect negatively to their skills. It is very easy still to dehumanize others behind the screen and in general discussions are completely different from irl. Twitter and such feel more like someone is yelling at town square and others may or may not react to it. |
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| it's more like social media gave voice to more people that lacked empathy. |
| "among monsters and humans, there are only two types. Those who undergo suffering and spread it to others. And those who undergo suffering and avoid giving it to others." -Alice “Beauty is no quality in things themselves: It exists merely in the mind which contemplates them; and each mind perceives a different beauty.” David Hume “Evil is created when someone gives up on someone else. It appears when everyone gives up on someone as a lost cause and removes their path to salvation. Once they are cut off from everyone else, they become evil.” -Othinus  |
| look im just saying that i know really evil people who do not use social media at all they just kinda never get out their room, watch anime, and bully others online i think its actually being antisocial that kills empathy |
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deg said: empathy means the ability to understand and share the feelings of another so how true is this? i say often but not always People are mean controlled by the greed for money and power.. They show empathy and sympathy in front but they are laughing at the unfortunate person behind their back and feeling good about themselves at the unfortunate person's situation.. One man's fun is another's hell |
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| I think it's increased empathy, because it's made it easier to learn about perspectives and life experiences different from our own, which means less imagination is needed in order to empathise. Eg I was on a forum when I was younger and interacted with or made friends with people from lots of other countries, from different social classes, gay people, trans people and I wouldn't have done that offline, especially as a pretty shy teenager (at the time). Teens get to know a wider variety of experiences than most pensioners would have known about 30 years ago. One concern I do have is the hivemind on sites like twitter making people less empathetic at times. For example, one-on-one someone could do something and you'll assess it (consciously or subconsciously) and even if you decide you come to the conclusion that what they did was a bit wrong, you'll still treat them respectfully and as a multi-facted person. But if you see someone do the same thing online, because so many people are criticising this person you might not assess the situation as fairly (instead starting from the position that they're bad) and you might be encouraged to see the person as only being that one wrong action they did, rather than as a multi-facted person, because everyone is focusing on this one behaviour of the person. Individuals in a group will do and believe things that the individuals in the group would never do or believe on their own and often it'll the beliefs/actions will get more and more extreme, because the members encourage each other, either deliberately or unintentionally. |
"The f**ker who goes round beating people to a pulp. He thinks it'll never happen to himself. But there's gonna be a day when the f**ker gets f**king beaten to a pulp too. But that day's f**king today and the guy doing the beating is a f**king c**t." - Sang-hoon, Breathless (2009)    |
| I'll actually say yes. While it gives us a platform, it also hides people behind anonymity. You don't have to see their face or hear their voice, they're just words on a screen, which are much easier to be cruel to. Plus some sites encourage negative behavior through their toxic culture. Twitter has a trend of finding someone new to gang up on and dogpile like once a week. There's also an increased popularity there of telling people to unalive themselves over trivial disagreements to be all 'le epic savage and edgy' or some dumb bs. What I'm saying is some sites are cancerous and twitter is probably the worst. I've also seen people who shit talk each-other debate each-other on stream and they're both super civil with each-other (at least at first) because we're not designed to start verbally harassing someone when they haven't done so to us first. |
| Life is more pleasure than pain. You have meaning so long as you choose to. Everything matters to someone. |
| I think its killing some kinds of empathy but growing others. We tend to gravitate torwards things we relate to and consume things we like, so if someone had a similar negative experience that we can relate to but it was slightly worse or better we will probably care more. |
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| I feel that it can, but I don't believe social media is the only thing killing empathy. Also, perhaps it can differ from person to person as well. For example, the more I hear about people's problems, the more I become upset about not being able to do anything or help. Meanwhile, the more my friend hears about people's problems, the more desensitized they become to it all ("heard it all before" type of thing). Being a bit similar to the issue of desensitization, one can look at certain studies for things such as video games as well. Sometimes, you are going to see that the findings suggest a desensitization to things like people being killed in horrific ways. Meanwhile, you'll find studies which contradict that. I feel like it can depend on the level of interaction or how connected one feels to those involved as well. Only seeing something like a death toll in numbers is one thing. Seeing the actual bodies piled up is another. Something like that. Or you might not care much about someone you don't know posting about unfortunate circumstances, but perhaps you care if it's someone you've met. I have a feeling that some people look at the folks on this site as pretty much NPCs while others actually understand that there's a person behind these posts. Or really, I'm sure they recognize that there are humans behind each post, but that physical/tonal disconnect might make them care less about who is behind each digital profile. Additionally, I feel like a lot of people only care about certain things because others have made them aware of it or they want to be a part of the norm. If people see that the normal person cares about this or that, then they will feel like they need to care about it as well. Actually, there was a study done on advertisements with minors where they found that if an advertisement on social media actually had a bunch of likes/comments then kids would more likely feel like they needed to comment or like as well. Meanwhile, posts with low likes/comments, they just scrolled by. So sounds like part of it is just a feeling of belonging. I remember at some point everything was about Haiti and once the earthquake in Japan hit, everyone moved on from Haiti to Japan. I actually asked someone, "Well, what about Haiti? They still need a lot of help," and they actually said, "That's not hip anymore. Everyone's on Japan now". Or when I used to post news and no one would pay attention to anything I posted from Africa I asked folks why and one person said, "Well, bad things are always happening in Africa, so who cares" to which people agreed. Ouch. And then suddenly, non-African people got caught up in the bombings I had been posting about, the stories got attention in mainstream media, and THEN suddenly people became concerned... or at least pretended to be because being concerned about it suddenly became a part of the norm. Also, I'm glad to see you have an avatar now! It's been a long time! |
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