NYT Wonders: Is It Social Media, Or All the Head-Punching That Stokes Anxiety?

A series of viral videos from several young female TikTok users, who posted emotional dispatches about getting punched on city streets, caused concern this week about the topic among fans online. ...

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According to New York City police statistics, felony assaults were up 3 percent from the year before, and misdemeanor assaults were up by 10 percent over the same period.

In another interview with The Reset Talk Show last week, Mr. Adams said that social media could make these acts seem more common than they are. “When you have random acts of violence that is focused on repeatedly,” he said, “showing videos over and over again — it plays on how people feel in the subway system.”

Ed Morrissey

It happens in other places too; a friend of mine got head-punched recently in another city, although it wasn't quite as random as these incidents were. Social media may draw more attention to it, but that doesn't change the fact that people are walking around and punching random women on the street without any provocation. Maybe that's a sign that mental-health issues are going unaddressed, and by "mental health issues" I don't mean "social media anxiety."

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