Media Desensitization
In my pervious posts, we have discussed the Social Cognitive Theory, which in short is used to explain short and long term effects of media content. Similarly, Piotrowski and Fikkers describe Desensitization Theory “that repeated exposure to media violence leads to gradual cognitive and emotional habituation in response to aggression” (2019). This means over time and extended periods of viewing violent content, audiences become more “used” to this type of behavior and in return deters their moral judgements and behaviors.
On December 31, 2017, Logan Paul a popular YouTube star uploaded a vlog of himself walking around the Aokigahara Forest in Japan, or more famously know as the Suicide Forest. This video of Logan and some fellow friends end up coming across what was depicted of a deceased corpse of a man. In the video the YouTube star seems shocked, but he proceeds to laugh and make disrespectful and disgusting jokes. This video was viewed over six million times before is was removed (BBC, 2018).
Logan is know for his prank and shock videos, however, this was taking it too far. A day later he uploads an apology video trying to cover his grounds, but unfortunately it was too late. The media got ahold of him and he faces the repercussions.
As tragic the video was, this is an example of how the teenage demographics have been desensitized to violent and graphic content. I would say that this type of behavior is would be placed in the third stage of the Desensitization Theory. Desensitization Theory starts with repeated exposure then reduced emotional response and lastly an acceptance of this violent behavior. Logan Paul’s audience is mostly young teens, and according to NPR, 53 percent of children own a smartphone by the age of 11 (2019). By this age, a child’s mind is still not yet developed and if they were to stumble upon Logan’s video it could be a shock or even detrimental to their mental growth.
In this day and age, violent media will only accelerate. The only way to counteract it will be familiarizing yourself with the effects of media and take actions to combat the effects.
NPR: It’s A Smartphone Life: More Than Half Of U.S. Children Now Have One (2019)
BBC News: YouTube punishes Logan Paul over Japan suicide video (2018)
Piotrowski and Fikkers: Media Violence and Aggression (2019)
