ABSTRACT
The flows of digital information embedded in social and personal contexts have potential to enhance the ways we connect to others; that is, to enhance our capacity for “empathy.” However, those same flows of digital information face ethically negative challenges as well: they can lead to desensitization to events and states of affairs that would normally trigger an empathetic response. With so much unfiltered information available, becoming desensitized to the suffering of others is a central ethical concern relevant to digital ethics. Our focus here is on case studies that consider the impact of digital technologies and content on interconnected experiences.
