Ali Al-Fadala

Professor: Jason Karp

ITCS-3688

5/31/2017

Social Media Creating Reality

Social construction involves the concept of having a shared basis on reality. Humans

rationalize their different experiences by having models that involve social world and sharing

them to create objectivity from them. Social media usage has grown over the years and is one of

the most challenged topics for discussion in the society depending on the platform and angles

that it covers. More so, it associated with the younger generations who have created trends and

movements that have shaped the way life is seen. The basis of categorizing true and false is also

generated through sufficient interaction starting from what is showed in public. The impact from

technology use has shaped the same life that all humans live. The outcomes are both negative

and positive especially with the expressed results from the people. Human and technical reality

created from social medias description of true and false categories has more of a negative

impact to the peoples lives.

The images that are presented in social media are mostly of false representation. The core

of ideas when it comes to social media is not clear enough. Technology has made it possible for

people to show aspects of their lives that are not ideally realistic. For example, when one can

give an indication from a photograph that a distant land is almost perfect. The vegetation cover,

rivers, arrangement of houses and infrastructure may appear in perfect condition. It is meant to

show other that areas cannot achieve the same, which is not the case in reality. Instead it is

supposed to utilize the perfect condition to show that it is achievable only in terms of
improvement (Bonano 4). There can never be an error-free existence of anything under the sun.

Therefore, the false presentation is not good for the people as it not realistic in all essence.

Emphasis should be placed on changing the above.

There are different things that have social media representation of either a false or true

basis that leads to influence. All things that exist in the society are developed from an individual

or individuals who have an agenda. For example, when using the social media to show that a

country has systems that favor the people the influence behind it is acknowledged. It can take the

form of either a political or governmental agenda to show that there are no failures as means of

encouraging the people to have a positive opinion on the body. The influence then gained from

the constructs ensures that the people behind it have achieved their target (Krombholz 192).

None of the above can exists without the intention to create an image on the people and thus it

provides a different school of thought towards the true and false debate.

Psychological impacts from the true and false realities have been severe when dividing

the positive and negative outcomes. In the world that we live in today, much of the impacts are

translated through the peer influence that is within the social media networks and platforms. For

example, the youth of today have managed to have the influence among their peers depending on

the kind of trends and life they show on the outside. The kind of lifestyles and depiction of the

activities that they engage in has created the pressure (Bonano 6). Majority of them cannot be

able to live up with the expectations and therefore end up suffering psychological issues like

depression and others. Some of the youth have also been known to suffer in silence from the

pressure of trying to fit in like the others despite the struggles they face.

Another psychological impact raised from the true and false aspect of social media has

been the cyber bullying. It involves a form of harassment that one undergoes when facing
pressure from others in most of the social media networks. It is derived from the interactions that

the youth undertake on various topics and issues in the world according to the happenings. For

example, the topic on religion of Islam has provided much controversy. From the issue of

discrimination and portraying of Muslims as terrorists, social media has made it a subject of true

and false argument (Tornberg and Tornberg 134). All Muslims are now branded in a negative

way from the generalization and it is a widespread issue that has taken up the good values of the

people. Instead, harassment of the religion has been made acceptable. They are bullied into

thinking that they do not deserve the same accord as the others, which is not good at all.

Secrecy in the social constructs of true and false harms the society. Majority of the people

take the advantage to hide behind false names in the social media networks and platforms. They

do not present their real identities at all times. Instead, from the profiles shown it is there that one

can express themselves on different issues without having much worry on being held accountable

(Bonano 12). Different circumstances, events, and issues elicit mixed reactions from people as

they are not able to attest the required standards. One finds that it gives room for abuses,

discouragement, harassment, apart from other negative behaviors. The main issue that is faced in

the same basis is the lack of a policing management that can be able to identify the culprits. It is

a calculated mechanism that has been encouraged to this day.

Secrecy is spread through comments, false images, names, reactions, as well as

presentation that are made viral. Since there is no form of an official identification and

confirmation of the personality behind the profiles, there is much leeway that goes unpunished

when Secrecy is made into negative results. People get the encouragement to be non-accountable

of their words and expressions. In the end, no one follows the same reality as it is made between

human and technical (Krombholz 176). On the other hand, the maintained behavior from the
same people does not encourage others to thrive and grow. Instead, the focus should be on

making people use the social media platforms for improvement in all areas of their lives. Secrecy

therefore has been able to exist through a human creation and has increased the psychological

impact on the society in a negative manner.

Human and technical reality is created from social medias description of true and false

categories. In turn, they have more of a negative impact to the peoples lives. In the current

setting, technology cannot be done away with but has to be incorporated in making sure that

human see true and false in different circumstances that promote harmonious living,

achievements, and constant improvement. It should not be used as an opportunity to create and

Secrecy and increase the negative outcomes. The false representation should also be scrapped

and the experiences that cause physiological setbacks also eliminated.

 Works Cited

Bonano, Rose Emma. The social media paradox: An examination of the illusion versus the

reality of social media. Sociological Imagination, vol. 3, no. 1, 2014, pp. 1-13.

Krombholz, Katharina, et al. "Fake identities in social media: A case study on the sustainability

of the Facebook business model." Journal of Service Science Research, vol. 4,

no. 2, 2012, pp. 175-212.

Trnberg, Anton, and Petter Trnberg. "Muslims in social media discourse: Combining topic

modeling and critical discourse analysis." Discourse, Context & Media, vol. 13, 2016,

pp. 132-142.