“You’re so chopped” were the first words I saw when I opened my Instagram reels comment section on a video showcasing a young girl lip-scyncing to a popular song. The video blew up online, but not for the right reasons. A teenage girl unintentionally exposed herself to the toxic reality of social media, and soon became a victim of cyber bullying. Unfortunately, this vicious cycle has become normalized in today’s media.
When you open Instagram Reels, the comment section is almost guaranteed to be filled with people mocking, criticizing or bullying whoever is featured in the video. Humor has always been universally known as a survival tool—a coping mechanism. It’s become normal to joke about painful and traumatic situations to soften the blow of reality. In many ways, humor can be used to help process fear, trauma and uncertainty without being overwhelmed by it. But as social media has blown up over the past decade, the line between coping and cruelty has begun to blur. In today’s digital world, humor no longer just helps us process difficult situations; it often prevents us from taking them seriously at all.
Social media has normalized bullying, and the design of these platforms promotes the problem. Endless scrolling creates a stream of content that exposes viewers to an infinite number of topics. Post after post, when a serious topic appears on screen, you might see very little information and education in the comment section, but instead witness an overwhelming amount of hate and harmful phrases. Blatant bullying has become expected, and complex issues have been compressed into stupid jokes that prioritize going viral over understanding and educating.
This doesn’t mean humor itself is the problem. Humor has always helped people survive unimaginable hardship. Satire has been used to critique political systems, comedians have used jokes to confront prejudice and injustice and communities have laughed together to ease collective grief. Humor can reveal uncomfortable truths and make difficult conversations more accessible.
The National Institute of Health ran a study in 2020 that questioned 1413 random participants on their coping strategies when dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. This study revealed that humor is generally a positive coping strategy that lowers perceived stress and maladaptive coping strategies when dealing with difficult situations, but when used in combination with avoidant coping strategies it can have negative effects on their physiological wellbeing.
“The less consistent result concerning the negative relationship of humor to psychological stress, as well as the lack of moderation with approaching coping should suggest caution in interpreting an overall positive and protective effect of humor during stressful situations.”
The difference in today’s world lies in the scale, speed and audience. Social media allows jokes to reach millions of people, many of whom lack the context to understand the topic’s importance. When everything becomes a meme, it’s easier to emotionally distance ourselves from real suffering.
Newer generations are especially at risk of losing their empathy, as they are gaining access to social media earlier than ever before. Children and teenagers are being exposed to online humor that often includes mockery and desensitization to serious issues. When these patterns emerge during key years of mental development, they can shape how empathy develops. If bullying is so normalized online, how can we expect younger generations not to pick up on these traits?
This issue becomes especially troubling when humor is applied to major global issues. When climate change, political crises and racial injustices are taken out of context, the intensity of the situation is lost. For instance, discussions about the release of the Epstein Files on Jan. 30, 2026. Videos online mock the eating of babies while the victims are disregarded. This is a serious issue that demands attention and empathy, but there is none to be found on social media.
The goal shouldn’t be to eliminate humor from serious conversations. Jokes can allow people to engage in heavy subjects that might be difficult to approach otherwise. The challenge is recognizing when humor invites reflection versus outright bullying. A joke that exposes injustice can be powerful. A joke that minimizes it can make people fail to understand its importance.
As digital culture continues to evolve, the responsibility lies not just with platforms but with the audiences that shape them. What we choose to laugh at, share and normalize ultimately determines the tone of our society. Humor will always be part of how humans process the world, but if empathy disappears from the equation, the punchline may come at the expense of our humanity.
