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Has Social Media-Based News Changed How People React to Crises?

Security professionals face an emerging challenge in the unprecedented ways social media shapes how people—particularly young adults—observe and react to global conflicts. As demonstrations erupted on college campuses in 2024 in response to the conflict in Gaza, many people have tried to explain student demonstrators’ intense responses through the lens of harmful, deliberate content, pointing fingers at intentional disinformation or straight-up propaganda. But one key factor was largely overlooked—the medium itself, which dramatically affects how people observe, process, and respond to crises.

While social media is a recent development, the media’s ability to color public opinion and even cause mass unrest is not a new phenomenon.

In 1967, the United States was favored to win the war in Vietnam. Then came the Tet Offensive, a resounding American military success that counterintuitively ensured their opponent’s ultimate victory. When Americans turned on their televisions following the bloody battle, they reacted with horror as they witnessed scenes of death and destruction, and popular support for U.S. intervention in Vietnam plummeted. The Vietnam War was nicknamed the “Living Room War” because of how easily it could be observed from the homes of American civilians. It quite literally hit too close to home.

Today, the ubiquity of smartphones means we no longer need professional journalists to go and document global events—anyone can capture and share footage instantly with a worldwide audience. This capability has resulted in an unprecedented flow of unfiltered conflict footage from several regions—including the Middle East, with graphic documentation of injuries, death, and destruction captured by civilians. These raw images spread rapidly through social networks, creating a direct emotional pipeline from conflict zones to local communities.

This shift in information consumption creates a perception gap that poses distinct security challenges. According to a 2024 News Consumption Report by the Pew Research Center, older individuals typically consume professionally curated news coverage at designated times and on stationary devices they can set down or walk away from, while younger people typically engage with the news using social media platforms—and therefore encounter war footage randomly interspersed with everyday content.

Within 30 seconds of opening Instagram, a student might view drone footage of decimated cities, an advertisement for a holiday party at their university, an image of a Palestinian parent holding the remains of their deceased child, and a photo of their nephew at the pumpkin patch. The student may encounter the profile of a Palestinian civilian and tap to view their account, first scrolling through obituaries and heartache to eventually find earlier, more familiar photos of family birthdays, graduations, and vacations with friends. Within a minute, a faraway conflict is irreversibly humanized. The student will likely carry those images and complex feelings with them for the rest of the day.

The emotional and psychological boundaries of viewing conflict have disintegrated. ​​No longer is the receipt of information separated by “international affairs” and “family photos.” Instead, they all occur in the same location—on a device that is never more than a few feet away from its owner from sunrise to sundown, creating a persistent psychological burden that must be taken into consideration to understand the extent of demonstrators’ outrage.

Many young people are experiencing genuine psychological distress from constant exposure to graphic, disturbing footage. One study presented at the International Conference on Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Management in 2017 found that consuming this content on social media can even cause vicarious post-traumatic stress disorder.


Many young people are experiencing genuine psychological distress from constant exposure to graphic, disturbing footage.


When managing demonstrations or potential security incidents, security professionals should keep in mind the likelihood that protestors have recently viewed seriously traumatic content. Attempting to engage in a purely rational, logical discussion of university conduct or the possibility of repercussions is unlikely to achieve desired results on an emotionally dysregulated student who has just seen a photo of a mutilated child or a mass gravesite. Training in trauma-informed communication and effective de-escalation tactics are more important than ever when managing potentially volatile situations, as a considerable number of protestors are experiencing vicarious trauma.

Even if graphic footage is weaponized by a bad actor or taken out of context, that does not negate the real impact it has on young people whose lives are intertwined with this new digital information landscape. By approaching sensitive situations with open-mindedness and empathy, violence and resistance may be mitigated and replaced with dialogue, cooperation, and eventual understanding. Considering emotional context in security management now may safeguard us from a future in which a bad actor may try to weaponize our own humanity against us. Building trust between security personnel and the communities they serve can only net positives for either side.

 

 

Zoë Bussewitz is a senior at Stony Brook University studying political science and mass communication. Pursuing her interest in the intersections of extremist belief development in youth, emerging technology regulation, and national security, she has interned at the National Security Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office SDNY and is a new member of the ASIS International Extremism and Political Instability Community steering committee. Connect with her on LinkedIn here.

 

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