The Lack Of Empathy In Social Media

1056 Words3 Pages

As I scroll through my newsfeed on Facebook, it is filled with only a handful of top trending stories in the news or newly added photos from the weekend festivities. The increasing technological advances of today, make it easy for people to connect by updating their daily lives, increasing the ease of sharing pictures, to obtain current news and information in just seconds. With the advancement of social media, smart phones, and wireless-internet access, it is not surprising the younger generation exhibits a lack of empathy and emotions. Empathy is very complex and has a variety of meanings, however the most common form of empathy is the ability to understand or share feelings with others. When someone is asked by their peers or parents how …show more content…

For the longest time my parents would ask me how I am doing, however I never talked about my feelings. Eventually due to a build up of stress and being diagnosed with general anxiety disorder, I sought help from a psychologist. She pointed out that when there is something going on in my life that troubles me, I never talk about how it makes me feel. I became use to not talking about my emotions and became numb to issues. Society now deems any feeling other then happiness as a weakness. The biggest problem that has caused the empathy deficit is how informal our communication is becoming. We are connected more then ever, which enables us to communicate effectively and quickly. Due to the development of technology, we mostly communicate through Facebook, texting, and tweeting; these are the most used applications of informal communication used today. Reading a persons tribute to someone that has passed away, it is very easy to not have the same emotions the person posting may be feeling. When you physically hear a person’s emotional reaction, it is easier to empathize with the person and the emotions they may be experiencing. In an article posted on theguardian.com by Mark Honigsbaum he states the following: “When we empathies, they argue, we mirror the distress of an “other” and, unless our brains are damaged or we are developmentally abnormal, we are moved to alleviate their suffering.” If you’re unable to see a person or hear a person express the emotion, it makes it difficult to empathies with them. If something happens, to one of your friends who gets into a car accident; you’re less likely to feel as bad if you read about it on a Facebook post. However, if your friends or family calls and you hear them crying and the sadness in their voice, you’re more likely to empathies with them and feel the same emotion. Not only is it hard to empathies when we don’t physically hear or see the

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