Social Question

flip86's avatar

Why are people drawn to "shock" photos and videos?

Asked by flip86 (6213points) August 5th, 2013

Examples: Goatse, 2 girls 1 cup, lemonparty, cake farts, among others.

What draws people to view these things and trick others into viewing?

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15 Answers

El_Cadejo's avatar

I don’t know, I went through a period myself (13–15) where I was strangely drawn to this stuff. For me I think it was a gross out factor and me and my friends would try and trick each other into viewing them.

At this point though I’ve been so completely and utterly desensitized that none of it bothers me at all anymore.

seekingwolf's avatar

I never heard of cake farts…heard of all the others though. Just looked it up and LOLOLOL.

I think it’s because people like to be grossed out.
It’s funny to see people’s reactions, honestly…that’s a BIG part.

I tricked my boyfriend into seeing lemonparty and he got pretty angry with me.

El_Cadejo's avatar

meatspin used to be the easiest one to trick people into seeing. There used to be a website up called omgwtf or something like that. While its a warning most people would still click it

Dutchess_III's avatar

Two girls and a cup makes me sick to my stomach and I’ve never even seen it.

I don’t know the answer to your question.

ucme's avatar

Morbid curiosity, same as when drivers “rubber neck” when passing a recent crash on the roads.

YARNLADY's avatar

Maybe some people need to feel better about their own life by seeing something happen to somebody else. It’s the same reason they laugh at stuff like the Three Stooges, which I never found to be funny.

I do confess to watching police chases and security pictures of car crashes. When I was little, my Dad used to take the family to watch the Demolition Derby.

livelaughlove21's avatar

I don’t know. I guess I’m one of them because I just looked up the ones you listed that I hadn’t seen. Sort of wish I hadn’t, though (and so does my husband). I’ve also seen everything on rotten.com.

shego's avatar

I would have to say that the only reason we look at those “shock videos” is because it’s not normal. It is something that psychologically takes us on some weird adventure. I would have to say because we will not try that having somebody daring enough to do so makes us curious.
We might not be able to finish the adventure, be we can say we at least tried.
However there are some adventures that we wish we never experienced for me it was being conned into watching 2 girls one cup. I didn’t even last 30 seconds at that time I was bowing down to the garbage can.

livelaughlove21's avatar

I don’t get how people have such weak stomachs. Throwing up be seeing a nasty photo or video? Why? It’s not as if you’re eating the shit. I know people that ran from the computer gagging about 10 seconds into 2 girls 1 cup. I just don’t get it.

shego's avatar

@livelaughlove21 to each their own everybody responds differently. I personally cannot handle seeing bodily fluids without getting sick. Others can and some of them are ER doctors.

Berserker's avatar

Morbid curiosity, I guess. I went through this, but I can’t explain it. My specialty as a teen was gore. I had a shitload of sites to check out, and I would pretend that I thought it was cool, although it was really nothing more than upsetting. And it wasn’t anything I was trying to prove to anyone, as many times, I would check these out on my own.
I guess maybe people are kind of like cats. You just have to explore, and you keep doping it, even if not all of the outcomes are satisfying. I denno. Then eventually, you’re like, aaah fuck this, I’m taking a nap. :)

Dutchess_III's avatar

Same reason some people get sick on roller coaster rides and some don’t @livelaughlove21. Everyone is different.

I confess, I spent about 2 hours the other day watching the worlds worstest car wrecks! It was a lotta “Oh shit!” but I learned some stuff too….stuff I already knew like never, ever take your eyes off the road!

livelaughlove21's avatar

@Dutchess_III People don’t typically get sick just looking at a roller coaster. Not quite the same.

Dutchess_III's avatar

Well, I guess it depends on their emotional sensitivity level then.

greenbean3's avatar

I’ve always loved being scared or grossed out, and people are naturally curious. I’ve seen most of the infamous things out there, all the ones you mentioned, and after a while you get desensitised to that sort of thing and look for something that still shocks you. Morbid curiosity gets the better of me every time. Also, there is so much hype on the internet about 2 girls one cup (I’ll use that for an example) and so many people saying “Don’t watch it, it scars you for life!” That you can’t help but go watch it. It’s like having a huge red button saying don’t push.

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