Participatory outrage and digital compassion

Savannah cites research showing social media sharing can blunt real-world action, not spur it.

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Episode notes

When fear becomes the price of being “informed,” how do we tell the difference between paying attention and being emotionally hijacked?

After a trio of viral Threads posts seem to declare that terror is the only appropriate response to our moment, we dig into how social media turns unprocessed fear into a public spectacle, and why outrage and panic are increasingly treated as signs of intelligence or moral seriousness. Drawing on mental health research, media studies, and theology, we ask whether constant distress actually helps us engage the world more faithfully or quietly numbs our capacity for compassion and action.

Things we mentioned in this episode:

Books + Articles:

⁠We Survived the Night by Julian Brave NoiseCat⁠

⁠Against the Machine by Paul Kingsnorth⁠

⁠The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson⁠

⁠A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson⁠

⁠Night by Elie Wiesel⁠

⁠A Testament of Devotion by Thomas Kelly⁠

⁠Media and compassion after digital war: Why digital media haven't transformed responses to human suffering in contemporary conflict by Andrew Hoskins⁠

⁠We Have Never Been Woke by Musa al-Gharbi⁠

Shows + Movies:

⁠Run Away⁠ on Netflix