Senior Capstone ℅ 2019

5-24-2019

Media Desensitization : An Autoethnography

Martin Ortiz
Los Angeles Leadership Academy HS, ​mortiz100624@laleadership.org
Media Desensitization ​Ortiz 1

Senior Capstone ℅ 2019

Abstract

Everyday our eyes are diverted to a screen, whether it be a phone or a tv. The people who

create the content control our thoughts to a certain extent. The constant exposure to violence

can create a psychological disorder that can limit our empathetic perception of violent events.

The social issues we hold as a community is an example of why desensitization is a major issue.

Keywords:​ ​Desensitization, Media, Psychological, Internet

Acknowledgements

I’d like to acknowledge my teachers and my fellow peers for the help.
Media Desensitization ​Ortiz 2

Media Desensitization :An Autoethnography

Martin Ortiz-Michel
Los Angeles Leadership Academy HS, Los Angeles, California, USA

Everyday our eyes are diverted to a screen, whether it be a phone or a tv. The people who

create the content control our thoughts to a certain extent. The constant exposure to violence

can create a psychological disorder that can limit our empathetic perception of violent events.

The social issues we hold as a community is an example of why desensitization is a major issue.

The Incident

I remember. The blood and the sound of life flowing from a body through the eyes of a

lense. Pixels dancing around the screen to satisfy the image. The image coming, traveling at

lightspeed, cutting through the air to reach my eye, but why? Why would those people boast

such actions to the extent of uploading for the enjoyment of…who, I asked myself. As I

continued to watch, my palms began to get sweaty and I felt my breath get denser by the

second. A million questions raced through my brain until I stopped thinking and just watched. I

couldn’t stop watching. Like a fish in a lake, I was hooked to the line. The line that hooks each

and every one of us daily; The Internet.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Click:​ The sounds I remember as I conversed with my friends over

facebook. It was 2014, my seventh grade year, and facebook was “the shit” meaning popular. It
Media Desensitization ​Ortiz 3

was a whole new world full of comedy and vanity to boost your social life. As I scrolled

through the feed a video in particular caught my attention. A woman and a man sitting on their

knees with their hands tied and a masked man with two forty fives resting on his shoulder

holster standing right behind them doing hand gestures. I was curious but not the normal

curious. It was the type of curiosity which drives us to disobey morality with full knowledge of

the consequences. But, I thought: ​Would there be a consequence? ​The curiosity outweighed the

morality and before I knew it , my thumb was kissing the screen. The first sound I heard was the

crunching of leaves as the man in the video walked between trees. ​Wait, I need earphones​. I

plugged them in and continued to watch attentively as to not miss a single detail. The video

continued with the man walking towards the captives kneeling on the floor, where the man

behind the victims asked “trajiste el alambre?” (​Did You Bring the wire?) t​ o which the camera

man responded a simple “Si guey ”(​Yes man​). The camera man then passed the man a wooden

rod with a looped barbed wire which met at the center of the rod. ​What could that be for, I

thought.​ The man continued to walk behind the hostages and an interview began. “ Cómo te

llamas”(​What is your name?​) asked the masked man. The hostages then said their names. “Para

que cartel trabajan?”(​What cartel do you work for?)​ asked the masked man. The two hostages

kept quiet for about 6 seconds until the masked man pistol whipped the woman which caused

the woman to cry. The masked man then repeated the question, “ Para que cartel trabajan

pinches ratas?”(​what cartel do you work for?​), but this time with a more serious tone.“Para los

zetas”(​For the Zetas​), replied both hostages. “Diganle a la raza porque están aquí”(​Tell them the

reason for which you are here​), asked the man immediately. The male hostage then explained

the situation,“Por el secuestro de dos niñas porque no nos pagaron la cuota”(​For the kidnapping
Media Desensitization ​Ortiz 4

of two girls because we weren’t paid money owed to us​). As the hostage said this the masked

man flipped open a tiny pocket knife and waited until the man stopped talking to say, “Esto es

lo que le pasa a la gente que anda cagando el palo, extorsionando a la gente y matando a los

inocentes”(​This is what happens to the fuck ups who are extorting and killing innocents)​. I

found his wordplay a bit amusing, as if he had recited that line a million times in his head. In a

way it was iconic. He then grabbed the woman by the hair, almost lifting her of the ground and

placed a small blade against her throat.“Esperate guey dejame pararme bien”(​Wait stand right)​ ,

said the cameraman as he got closer to get a better view of what was to come. Once the

cameraman was set he began to cut the woman’s throat.

At first no blood came out, but as the man cut harder blood began to gush out to the

point where it began to get onto the male hostage’s arms. He began to sob. The sound of the

woman gasping for air through her severed throat made my stomach turn. The masked man

continued until her head was completely detached from her body and threw her head in front of

the male hostage. There was blood everywhere I asked myself, should I stop watching but at

this point the masked man had grabbed the wooden rod with the barbed loop and once again

curiosity began to linger. He placed the loop around the hostages neck , grabbed both ends of

the rod, and began to twist. At first the man was choking, gasping for air, moving his body

violently until he realized there was no use and stopped. He was fucked. As the loop around his

neck got tighter, blood began to seep from under the wire and soon enough the wire entered his

throat hugging his nape. The man’s eyes floated up to look at the sky one more time until they

closed permanently, never to be opened again like a time capsule but this capsule held no life. It

was gone. The masked man gave a final twist and the hostages head came off . There was now
Media Desensitization ​Ortiz 5

two headless bodies on the floor and the men celebrated with laughter.​ Laughter? Seriously?​ I

thought. The video then stopped and the screen reverted back the the feed. I was stuck looking

at the thumbnail. Scarred by an invisible blade which created an invisible injury which could

only be healed with …What?

The entire narrative of the video had changed. The masked men were trying to

implement justice. The Mexican Robin Hoods of Michoacan. This made me come to the

conclusion that their intentions were right but their actions were wrong. The wrong actions

mixed with the good intention confused me. I began to think how others would think of this

video. They wouldn’t analyze the actions, they would support the intention. They would come

to the conclusion that their actions were right because their intention was right. This motivated

me to analyze the desentization people experience when they constantly view negative content

on the internet. The negative content placed in front of us decorated with “good intentions” have

changed us to ignore the social problems presented by the content displayed to us.

Analysis

Introduction

The Internet has been around longer than 40% of people but very little people

understand how it became one of the most impactful invention to be made. The idea of a

wireless system that could connect the world lingered among famous scientists like Nikola

Tesla in the 1920’s but didn’t flourish until the late 1980’s (Andrews, 2019) . The original

purpose for the internet was to facilitate the transportation of data but as time progressed the
Media Desensitization ​Ortiz 6

Internet modernized to become what it is today. It has become our main source for

entertainment and knowledge.

The Internet is like an enormous forest where there are beautiful objects to see but here

and there you’ll get a glimpse of the danger wildlife must face to survive. Similarly, the Internet

has beneficial information but eventually, you get to see the bad side of it. The side full of

negativity and devilish actions. In my case, I was a seventh grader who was exposed to a

beheading while on a website made with the purpose to communicate with others. Was it

Facebook’s fault for displaying such content? Well, I believe that it wasn’t their fault but the

people who reside in such harmful accounts and share violent material. Since the event, I have

experienced a sense of desensitization towards gore whether it’d be real life or through a screen.

Such feelings are experienced by every one of us without us knowing as a result of harmful

content displayed in the media.

This has lead me to create a research paper about the effects that negative content has

towards people and how it has changed society entirely to become desensitized to social issues

in communities around the world. The content displayed to us now would have been banned

without no doubt in the earlier days of media but due to desensitization and changes in

censorship laws, this content has become repetitive to purposely accustom us to buy into the

content and lose compassion towards the victims. I'm not trying to side with grandparents on

why the olden days were better and how we should spend less time on the internet because I,

like many others, truly enjoy navigating through the internet. My job is to present the physical

and psychological effects to help you understand the silent affects the media has placed upon us

all but most importantly on the youth.

Media Desensitization ​Ortiz 7

Study of Focus

Desensitization is a word which isn’t commonly used to describe the internet. To

understand how this word applies to the internet there needs to be an analysis of scientific

research and real world accounts from others who have come to understand the term through

personal experiences. Author Ammara Iqbal (2017) who has analyzed the Pakistani youth has

linked the effects of desensitization to the growing rates of terrorism in her country (Iqbal,

2017). Terrorism has become a global issue which can be linked to desensitization. The explicit

content creates a change in people which cannot be noticed by those affected by desensitization.

Psychologist Sylvie Mrug (2017) along with her colleagues have created an article which is part

of her journal titled “Emotional and physiological desensitization to real-life and movie

violence” to identify the physical and mental changes done to the body, for example PTSD

[Post Traumatic Stress Disorder] (Iqbal, 2017).

Such research must be backed up by real life experiences to help support the idea of

desensitization. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates wrote a book titled ​Media Effects: Advances in

Theory and Research,​ in which there is a story about a woman who was sexually assaulted by a

group of men (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002). The behavioural issues displayed support

the idea that men have become desensitized to sexual content to the point where they implement

these actions to real people which has become a real social issue. Lastly, we should understand

what is being done to regulate this content and the effects it has on those who must watch this

content to be able to feed their families. ​The Verge​ author Casey Newton has written an article

titled, “The Trauma Floor: The secret lives of facebook moderators”(Lawrence Erlbaum

Associates, 2002). In this article Newton explains the psychological stress placed upon
Media Desensitization ​Ortiz 8

moderators who are forced to view horrific content to be able to keep facebook clean and free of

intense violence. After the analyzation of these articles the understanding of desensitization will

​ rom examining physical and

be clear and will change the way you view the media.​ F

psychological effects of teens exposed to media violence, it is clear that the media influences

the desensitization of teens’ feelings.

Physical & Psychological Effects of Desensitization

When soldiers return from war, most tend to experience Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

(PTSD) due to the frequent encounters with violence. People also experience such feelings

when watching violence or gore in movies. Psychologist Sylvie Mrug has written an article

titled “Emotional and Physiological Desensitization to Real Life and Movie Violence” where

she explains the study she and her colleagues have conducted to prove the effects of

desensitization ( ​Mrug, Madan, Cook, E.W., & Wright​, 2014)

The experiment Mrug conducted involved showing male and female 18 year olds videos of

violent action movies. According to Mrug,

Male college students reported increased depressive and​ anxiety​ symptoms after

watching a ​violent movie​, but these negative emotional reactions diminished after

several days of repeated exposure to violent movies; females were not included in this

study. Similarly, children (8-12 years) who frequently watched television reported

feeling less frightened and worried about television violence, which could reflect

long-term emotional ​desensitization​, but also a self-selection of less ​anxious​ children

into more frequent TV viewing. (Mrug, ​ Madan, Cook, E.W., & Wright​,​ 2014)
Media Desensitization ​Ortiz 9

The symptoms experienced by the test subjects diminished when they kept watching the

violence repeatedly.

Mrug’s findings after testing for effects of desensitization help us understand that we are

prone to desensitization but, how does it work? Well our brain creates emotional responses by

releasing chemicals to help people react to the type of event that has happened. Mrug states that

acute exposure to violence should produce short-term increases in both cortisol and

blood pressure. With chronic stress, the repeated activation of the physiological stress

response may lead to long-term increases in baseline levels of cortisol and blood

pressure, which in turn contribute to various physiological and psychological problems,

such as hypertension, depression, and learning deficits. (Mrug, 2014)

This demonstrates that we as humans are not supposed to be exposed to entertainment that

causes the body to respond in a manner in which it wants to defend itself when its not in danger.

This leads to physical and psychological changes which can be seen in the troubled youth,

especially when there isn’t a guide to help the individual surpass such emotions.

Terrorism has become a worldwide problem which affects the lives of everyone.

Specific people are known to carry out

these attacks which has created a prejudice

against their

race and religion. This creates a social

problem where the people who are a

Media Desensitization ​Ortiz 10

certain race or practice a certain religion are targeted as dangerous. But to understand why that

is, we must analyze the root cause of this problem. Author Ammara Iqbal who works for the

Department of Social Sciences at Lahore Garrison University in Pakistan, analyzes the

emotional and psychological effects of media on the youth of Pakistan, in an article she wrote

titled “Role of Media Creating Desensitization among Viewers Related to Terrorist Acts”

(Iqbal, 2017). Iqbal believes that the media is responsible for a desensitized youth which can be

a leading factor for terrorism. Iqbal adds that the lack of sympathy can become a psychological

problem that can change the behaviour of individuals of certain age groups. According to Iqbal,

“The violent content of media make the people less sympathetic towards the pain of others and

people become numb and less helpful towards suffering people”(Iqbal, 2017). Iqbal adds that

Research resulted that video games containing violent content have more psychological

effect on children and they become desensitize and less empathetic. They have no

emotions and feelings towards people who are suffering from pain. (Iqbal, 2017)

This is the cause of the viewers brains becoming desensitized to their brains reactions of stress

and cortisol to the point where they are either numb to violence or psychologically damaged.

This results in a society with people that lack empathy or lash out in aggression towards others.

Society Has Lost Compassion and Respect

Desensitization has created a society where people lack empathy and respect for others.

Courtney Tulipani who majored in Humanities and Communications sciences at the California

State University of Monterey Bay wrote an article titled “Social Media’s Impact on

Compassion” where she analyzes the behaviours of people who cyberbully (Tulipani, 2016, pg
Media Desensitization ​Ortiz 11

5). Tulipani introduces us to a real life story of a young girl named Amanda Todd who

commited suicide. The author illustrates the story where she states,“In the case of Amanda

Todd, using flashcards and social media to communicate that “something was amiss” was a

“culturally resonant means of expressing distress” within our present globalized, digital

culture.”(Tulipani, 2016, pg 6-7). Todd’s distressing circumstances were met with anonymous

users posting brutal words in the comments section of the video, tearing Todd apart by calling

her a “slut” and “whore.” “A month after the video was posted on October 10th, 2012, Todd

committed suicide.” (Tulipani, 2016, pg 7). The girl who was looking to gather a community to

empathize, was now met with heavy criticism.

It is evident that users on social media are emotionally desensitized. Tulipani adds,

“Social media is not necessarily destroying our empathy because it is an inherent human

capability, but can become numbed or exhausted. When this happens individual’s reactivity to

tragic situations over time may lead to emotional withdraw, and they might not be able to

express their empathy towards others: This phenomenon has already been described with the

appearance of mass media, especially television (with an increasing number of channels), and

when terrible scenes of natural disasters, epidemic, wars, violence, famine, and the like pored

from televisions, leading to desensitization and cognitive-affective dissociation as self-defensive

reflexes” (Tulipani, pg 9). While some people may still show empathy, most are “emotionally

exhausted” as stated by Tulipani, which can result in negative behaviour. Moreover, people

have become accustomed to tragic stories presented to them to the point where the events are

seen as normal. The story of Amanda Todd may have caused much attention to a small portion

of the public but not enough to create a change because the people are used to tragic stories.
Media Desensitization ​Ortiz 12

Consequently, women have always been targets of sexual assault due to the loss of

respect men have for them. Some men still have the ideology of having supremacy over a

woman. Although our society made to be this way, it is morally incorrect to think this way as a

male. This loss of respect for women can be linked to desensitization. Lawrence Erlbaum

Associates wrote an article titled “Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research”(Lawrence

Erlbaum Associates, 2002). In this article they describe a report of a woman who was sexually

assaulted by a group of men in New York and question the behaviour of the men. According to

the article, “Due to media creating content out of sex, people are more easily aroused but when

the content involves violence it creates a platform for sex offenders and violence prone men to

feed from” (Lawrence E. Associates, 2002).The internet displays sexual content which can

sometimes be violent so when young adolescents view such material it can mislead them to

believe that it is right. For example, pornography is known to be habit forming so people who

continue to watch it will eventually become desensitized. This material continues to be made for

money but those producing such material do not realize the harm they are inflicting on people.

Internet

Violent content is being posted daily and has been since the Vietnam war (first war to be

televised) (Nunelly, 2009) . There are people who are hired to keep social media clean of bad

content and are required to watch videos or photos that show content like murder or torture. The

lives of these people revolve around daily exposure to violence at different levels. As argued

before, people watching violence constantly changes the person physically and psychologically.

Casey Newton, the author for ​The Verge​ wrote an article titled “The Trauma Floor:The

secret lives of a company which hires moderators for facebook ” where she analyzes the life of
Media Desensitization ​Ortiz 13

the people who are hired to keep Facebook clean of bad content (Newton, 2019). Newton

describes the conditions these moderators live in which is dark and anxious. Newton gives a

description of the moderators opinion of their work space stating, “the employees described a

workplace that is perpetually teetering on the brink of chaos. It is an environment where

workers cope by telling dark jokes about committing suicide, then smoke weed during breaks to

numb their emotions. It’s a place where employees can be fired for making just a few errors a

week — and where those who remain live in fear of the former colleagues who return seeking

vengeance” (Newton, 2019).Some users also stated sleeping with guns under their pillows.

Also, the amount of money moderators are paid is just above the minimum at $15 an hour.

These people put themselves in such positions due to financial necessity but end up with mental

necessities. The worst part is that the counseling for the employees is cut once they get fired or

let go.

The training these employees take purposefully desensitizes them to violent content.

According to Newton, moderators will rate about 1,500 videos or pictures a day to which

Facebook will leave about 50. The employees are aloud about 30 minutes for lunch, a 15 minute

break, and a total of 9 minutes for “wellness time”(Newton, 2019). The amount of time spent

reviewing these videos must be harmful.

Opinion

Our world has become violent due to the contribution of constant negative influence and

ideas being displayed in media. Desensitization has affected us all as a society. The content

being uploaded on social media displays the behavioural issues we hold as a community. The
Media Desensitization ​Ortiz 14

first amendment protects the people's liberty to speak but when this is used to inflict hate or

promote violence, it becomes an unsolvable issue.

I’m not saying that we should revoke people’s liberty of speech because we all enjoy the

liberty but we must understand the cause of the negativity in order to create change. As stated

by Ammara Iqbal, research has proven children lose empathy when they constantly watch

violence on television or in video games (Iqbal, 2017). The result of this is a generation of

unempathetic kids who lash out with aggression ( Iqbal, 2017). Iqbal created her research to

study the growing rates of teens joining terrorism in Pakistan. Similarly, this research can be

used to understand the growing rates of murder in cities across america like Chicago.

The suicide of Amanda Todd due to cyberbullying proves the loss of empathy between

people on social media. Promoting hateful material and sharing violent content. Eventually such

accounts get enough attention to which creates and controls a communities ideas. The high

follower count gives credibility to the source and the followers give it the power or voice. I was

exposed to a beheading and felt completely appalled but others may feel differently or may even

support the content. The building of communities such as these eventually leads to aggression

on behalf of its supporters.

I believe people should be aware of the damage being inflicted on them. Media has

shaped our society and will continue to to as technology progresses. Control happens because of

ignorance so this won’t change until people realize that some ideas are bad. Newtons article

emphasized the trauma done to the people that moderate pages.

Media Desensitization ​Ortiz 15

Conclusion

After the analysis of the articles stated in this paper, it is evident that desensitization

affects many people. Everyday after the daily activities, people relax by entertaining themselves

with tv or the internet. People must be aware of the type of psychological control media has

over them. They must realize how much power is granted to the media.

Since the invention of the television , people have set guidelines based on the ideas of a

person or multiple people. For example, the United States used propaganda during World War

II to promote “patriotic” ideas to motivate the people. This resulted in a population growing in

fear of foreign invaders and abusing the civilians who happened to be of Japanese descent.

Germany under Nazi rule also promoted anti-Jew propaganda which led the German people to

support the Nazi. People respond to media that claims credibility. The people of Germany were

blinded by the false credibility the newspaper and radio claimed which led them to believe in

negative ideas.

Similarly, Social media has such control over the people now. Teens want to become

rappers, drug dealers, narcos, or hop on trends to gain popularity. When people are constantly

viewing violence they become accustomed to it and begin to do the bad because the community

on social media marks it as cool.

It is evident that people have become desensitize to violence. The loss of empathy and

love creates a destructive atmosphere which must be corrected. Stress or psychological issues

people have and the depression they acquire due to media proves to be immense.
Media Desensitization ​Ortiz 16

References

Iqbal, A. (2017). “Role of Media Creating Desensitization among Viewers Related to Terrorist

Acts”. ​Arts Social Sciences Journal​ 8: 297. doi: 10.4172/2151-6200.1000297. Retrieved

from

https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/role-of-media-creating-desensitization-among

-viewers-related-toterrorist-acts-2151-6200-1000297.php?aid=94092

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates (2002). ​Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research.​
Retrieved from
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=vBSQAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA307&dq=e
ffects+of+internet+desensitization&ots=JeyWOlYxAe&sig=y0QV1WirqHrJ5WTA37fYYRQj
mew#v=onepage&q=effects%20of%20internet%20desensitization&f=false

Mrug, S., Madan, A., Cook, E. W., & Wright, R. A. (2014). “Emotional and physiological

desensitization to real-life and movie violence”. ​Journal of youth and adolescence,​

44​(5), 1092–1108. Retrieved from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4393354/​.

Newton, C. (2019, February 25). “The secret lives of Facebook moderators in America”.
The Verge​ . Retrieved from
https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/25/18229714/cognizant-facebook-content-moderator-
interviews-trauma-working-conditions-arizona

Tulipani, C. (2016). “Social Media’s Impact on Compassion”. ​Digital Commons @ CSUMB.

Retrieved from
https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1526&context=caps_thes

Nunelly, A.F (2009). “A Desensitized American Psyche”. ​The Harvard Crimson.

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/
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