You Can’t Unsee That: When Social Media Gives Us Something To Fear

April 2017

On Easter Sunday, a man shot and killed a 74-year-old man in Cleveland, Ohio, then posted the video on Facebook, where it spread widely. It was only the latest act of violence to surge through social media networks.

Though Facebook has since closed the alleged killer's account, the video remains branded in the minds of countless viewers. What does the easy accessibility to unforgettable, violent images do the mind? And should social media websites police such content? Psychology and Social Behavior Professor Roxane Cohen Silver discussed those questions with NPR affiliate WAMU in Washington, D.C.

Listen to the story here.