Violence In Social Media

Violence in Social Media

It was a very crowded place. We were in this huddle when I saw multiple unknown faces in a rage. The temperature had risen, and tensions were high. I didn’t know what was going on. I had no idea where I was. All I knew was that I was the youngest there and everyone was so angry. I began thinking, how had I been involved in such a violent encounter? Did I do something? This woman was walking towards me, she didn’t seem happy. WHAT DID I DO?! I had to figure it out soon, I only had a couple seconds before a really unfriendly meeting. I began listing things I knew made no sense, yet one had to be a reason. She reached me; only one thing came to mind. I shouted, “I’m sorry!” In the process I woke up with big gasps of breaths. It had only been a dream. What was my dream for me is sadly a reality for many others; it is something that occurs daily for many. Violence is everywhere, but very commonly seen on social media. There is no way to avoid it; once you stop scrolling. Those videos you watch are actual people, with actual feelings, and are actually hurting from this. Social media videos affect the people involved more than the ones that watch.

There was a fight in school with two junior girls. The fight started over the two girls not liking each other. Who would have thought that a mutual disliking of each other could end so violent? Who would've thought that people would have the audacity to film and post these fight videos for laughs and likes on social media Our youth often react to these videos with comical remarks like, “Haha, she really got beat up” or “She shouldn’t have been running her mouth.” As if it was the girl's fault to be abused and attacked over something so miniscule. We subconsciously erase these people as humans to be able to laugh at their pain. Since we don’t know these random girls and boys on our timelines it's easy to poke fun and ridicule these strangers. We need to realize that they are human as well, we cannot erase their humanity for our entertainment.

There have been several cases where these recorded fights in school bathrooms have ended fatally for one the fighters. An article on Daily Mail, tells an event that occurred last April. A middle school girl named Amy was in a school fight with another girl in the bathroom. It was said that the fight was over a boy. Amber was jumped by a couple other girls and was severely injured. This fight was recorded, everyone took sides and rooted on. They’d comment under the video how badly they’d punched her, or stomped on her. However, a couple hours later, after she was taken to the hospital, Amber was pronounced dead.

Social media encourages and encourages this type of behavior. Now, kids can attack each other online and this can also lead to physical violence, that is later posted again online. This cycle continues on and on, with everyone laughing and ridiculing the people fighting. It’s like we live for it. Violence entertains us. We can see when there are school fights, there’s always a crowd of bystanders watching and laughing in awe. They are recording or surrounding the people fighting like it's a concert. We are able to take this to the another level when it is recorded and uploaded online. We need to wake up as a society and take another look at out morals and standards. We need to sympathize, not laugh at each other’s pain. We need to put an end to this cycle of violence.

Works Cited
Edwards, Valerie. "Pictured: The Girl, 16, Who Died at School after Being 'jumped by a Gang of Bullies' Who Slammed Her Head against a Sink in Bathroom during Fight over a Boy."Daily Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 24 Apr. 2016. Web. 03 Apr. 2017.