Media has given us the means to share our experiences with the world. Whether it be our daily activities, or world breaking news, we can share all of this in real time for humanity to see. By providing second to second updates on all of our activities, we are introduced to a lot of visuals and ideas that we wouldn't have experienced any other way. With all the good that media can provide us, there also comes a plethora of negatives. Is the constant bombardment of all the negatives in the world making us numb as a society?
Websites such as LiveLeak, and forums such as Reddit are great outlets to share information with others. With the creation of these resources comes the fact that people are going to share everything and anything. Although it ultimately comes down to the responsibility of the viewer, anyone can access this content, no matter the restrictions. This leads to youth and minors to viewing content that may be disturbing or above their maturity levels. By introducing this content to minors and those that can't mentally handle such content can have detrimental effects. Forums allow disturbing content to be uploaded and distributed easily to these such people. These sites do have restrictions on who can view what content, but they are easily by-passable. On the internet, no one knows your true age, hence these measures turning out to be quite weak. By implementing better measures of content restriction, we can decrease the detrimental effects of explicit materials on those who can't handle it.
The ultimate answer to this issue can not just be blocking all content that is classified as explicit or disturbing. By banning such content, it will be hindering those who are at the level where they can enjoy such content. I believe that if you're at that maturity level that you can enjoy said content, then you shouldn't be hindered in your experience. However, if you are not at that level, seeing these things may have unwanted effects. Seeing disturbing content at a young age may have severe effects on the personality, thoughts and development of youth. After being exposed to such content for an extended period of time, young or not, you can become numb to content that would shock someone who hasn't seen such things. Being numb, or desensitized can lead to reduced social activity and coldness. This devalues social interaction and leads to a cold society that we are immune to real life experiences because we have already seen and heard it all. I believe that if that is your choice to view this content, then you should be allowed to. I just believe that this content should be better kept from those who are not ready for it yet.
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