The third-person effect is something that is prevalent in our lives today and has been for a very long time. With the expansion of media and opportunities to persuade and share propaganda, people can see the third-person effect taking shape in increased ways.
What this effect boils down to is certain individuals believe that the messages from the media do not apply to them, or apply less to them. These people believe the messages only apply to others around them or apply to them in a much more serious way (Salwen & Dupagne, 1999). These people believe that others will be more influenced by these messages and want less of these messages to be seen and heard because they do not think it applies to them.
“In the view of those trying to evaluate the effects of a communication, its greatest impact will not be on “me” or “you,” but on “them” the third persons. From the standpoint of a propagandist or other persuasive communicator, on the other hand, the third persons are those who are in some way concerned with the attitudes and behavior of the ostensible audience. Indeed, the propagandist may try to manipulate the behavior of these third persons by apparently seeking to influence someone else,” (Davison, 1983).
When thinking about it, I have indirectly been talking about the third-person effect all semester long. I am a person who is consistently a third-person that propagandist and media want to sway. I fall in the middle and stay out of situations and debates that do not involved me. Obviously, the two juggernauts of the political world of the United States hate this. They want everyone on their side and try to make advances on the middle.
This is exactly what Davison says in his quotes from his writing as he says they try to get to the third-person by affecting or directly reaching out someone who is in the life or the community of the third-person. Truly, it seems like the third-person can be applied to the third-parties from my opinion. There is the Green Party which wants all sorts of environmental changes in policy in the United States. There is the Libertarian Party which wants government to stop playing such a huge role in so many of our decisions and actions. There is also the Tea Party which seeks to limiting spending by the government overall. Pretty much, these are the third-person the two major parties would want to influence and change.
However, the bigger picture to be focused on is the concept itself. This idea of the third-person effect has reared its ugly head so many times over the last couple years in a variety of forms. People who are not getting the COVID-19 vaccines and boosters because they believe their health is so great, people voting for Joe Biden and his campaign who are rich just because he presented himself as nicer person than Trump and Biden’s policies would not affect them, and this idea has even come out when it comes to unemployment. They see their co-workers and others out in the world struggling and they continued to sit on unemployment instead of going to make a difference in the world.
Easily, the most traceable example takes the form of COVID-19. How many times have we heard and see people say they are not taking it because they believe it is their right and their health is just fine? There are too many to count. These people have utterly ignored if they know people who have died, if they know people who have survived and gotten super sick, and even ignored the wishes of family members, doctors, and employers to get vaccinated or take measures to lessen their chances of getting sick.
People think they are invincible when it comes to COVID-19 in some cases still, but they are not. They sit back and let the world continue to go on and they are doing nothing to prevent spread or help themselves get less sick. Some call them self-centered, but there is another argument that it is their right and if people are afraid of them, stay clear of them and take preventive measures themselves.
For reference, we will not know how many of these 87 percent of people thought they were immune to COVID-19 or it would never get them, but there is unquestionably some that thought it. It is not even a debate (Haddad, 2021). Sometimes, we are all guilty of being a third-person or a “bystander” as this could also be categorized. Some things really are much easier to let go of than others. However, when it comes to health, doing what YOU as an individual think is best should not be sacrificed unless it truly is illegal or threatens someone else’s rights.
Things nobody should stand by and let happen as a third-person though include racism, sexism, making fun of people less fortunate for a variety of ways, and watching illegal activity occur. These are things as a third person that should setting something off morally in our own minds as wrong.
Have you ever been a third-person and decided to act? Have you every been a third-person and decided not to act? Have you ever acted and regretted intervening? Have you ever not acted and regretted not doing so as a third-person?
Persuasion & Propaganda 