The episode entitled "White Bear" of hit BBC television show "Black Mirror" is written directly in response to people's addiction to their personal technology, and the dehumanization of violence once it is aired on a screen. The episode is a criticism of how being constantly exposed to aggression in the media has desensitized the public by making the viewing of graphic or disturbing images a part of normal, everyday life. On paper, the idea of seeing someone being hunted down and tortured for sport would be reviling; however, the writers of "Black Mirror" specifically made the episode so that spectators would be enthralled and highly entertained by the chase because they are witnessing it through their phone screens instead of being truly present at the suffering of another human being. The writers have written this episode for the viewing of Generation Y, defined as "the generation born in the 1980s and 1990s, comprising primarily the children of the baby boomers and typically perceived as increasingly familiar with digital and electronic technology" (Google), because they are the ones who are stereotyped as being addicted to their phones and computers. According to "Black Mirror", Generation Y is so gripped by their technology that they have completely shut off the outside world, and can only focus on the tiny screen before them; always trying to gain personal satisfaction out of the idea of being "liked" by social media, and in result being overly exposed and desensitized to violence.

The reason the writers have directed the episode towards this specific age group is because there is always high criticism in circulation about how violence in the media can make people lose their sense of morality because it makes aggression seem like a normal part of life. In the "White Bear" episode, the members of Generation Y are so enchanted by the entertainment they are receiving from the White Bear Park, mixed with the opportunity to be on television, that they are unable to process the fact that a human is being hunted and emotionally tortured every day of her life. While the main character is not innocent by any means (kidnapping and filming the murder of a young girl), her punishment is far larger than her crime. If the television show in "White Bear" had only tortured and filmed her once and then imprisoned her for life, this would have been a justified action against her wrongdoings. However, by erasing her memory every night and repeating the entire process again in the morning, they are not punishing her but in fact using her and her situation to entertain the public by turning the punishment into a game that audience members can even actively participate in. The episode is stating that technology has created a major rift in human interactions, therefore making torture on television justified. A study performed by the National Institute of Mental Health found that children who watched violence on television were "less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others  and more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways toward others" (Violence in the Media). Psychologists who have been studying children since the 1980's " found that children who watched many hours of violence on television  tended to show higher levels of aggressive behavior when they became teenagers" and that " the ones who'd watched a lot of TV violence when they were 8 years old were more likely to be arrested and prosecuted from criminal acts as adults" (Violence in the Media). The writers were trying to create an allusion between the citizens filming the torture on their phones and how showing violence on television can desensitize people and make them less likely to help someone if they saw them in a similar situation, and more likely to be the ones performing the acts of violence. The spectators of the torture and humiliation in the White Bear Justice Park are a reference to how viewing a violent event through a screen can modify peoples' behavior and take away any empathy they may have for the victims. Because the audience is not truly experiencing the torture in first person, but rather through a secondary source, the media is therefore stripping the information of any emotional quality.

Additionally, Generation Y is extremely dependent on technology, to the point where they are so hooked onto their devices that it distracts from them from their everyday lives. People get so lost into this realm of materialistic appreciation that they stop focusing on what is real in front of them, such as family and friends, and only care about what Facebook status will become the next trending post or what filter will gain the most approval from the Instagram community. Two out of five members of Generation Y that were surveyed reported that if they didn't have their phone, they would feel as though " a part of them was missing" (Freeman). In fact, a study performed by the Cisco Connected World Technology Report declared,  " more than one in four Gen Y respondents (29 percent) say they check their smartphones so constantly that they lose count" (Freeman). Not only that, but " one in five check their smartphones for email, text, and social media updates at least every ten minutes", as well as " one-third of respondents check their smartphones at least once every thirty minutes" (Freeman). Technology has nearly replaced in-person interactions between people, reporting "two-thirds of respondents said they spend just as much or more time socializing with friend online than they do in person", " 46% of the global respondents said they text, email, and check social media during meals with family and friends", and that " three out of four respondents use smartphones in bed" (Freeman), and has instead replaced physical relationships with screen addiction. Even with the laws in nearly every major country banning phone use while behind the wheel, people are so infatuated with their phones that " almost one in five admit to texting while driving" (Freeman). These statistics are important to the episode and the message that the writers are trying to convey because the current generation of young adults is faced with a growing world of technology and by constantly surrounding themselves with it, they are allowing technology to become an extremely dominant part of their lives, such as the spectators at the White Bear Justice Park, who cannot or will not put down their smartphones to assist someone in need of help.

The writers of the "White Bear" episode are stating that Generation Y are so addicted to their phones that they cannot function in day-to-day life without them, and are being too exposed to violence as a result. The show is critiquing Generation Y of being so enchanted by the internet and instant data streaming that they have become too familiar with violence in the media and therefore being desensitized by making them witness violence and aggression as part of an everyday routine. By creating such a controversial episode, the writers of "Black Mirror" are forcing the viewers to reflect on their own cell phone and laptop usage by making Generation Y wonder if they perhaps really are becoming too addicted to a world that isn't even tangible and making them question whether or not such a dystopia as the one in "White Bear" could ever be possible.

