Social Media Influences Perception

Mass media is really altering the perception of reality. Society today will flow with the masses according to what they are watching on the internet. The invention of the internet, in its mass expansion that can reach almost anyone in the world, has opened the world to its users. There are a million reasons why this is an amazing feat, along with a million negatives.

Perception is defined as a “Way of regarding, understanding, or interpreting something; a mental impression.” (Webster, 2016). The mental impression the internet leaves on society is important to note when opinions are formed as a whole on a particular person or culture. Certainly, everyone has heard the campaigns for #blacklivesmatter and #bluelivesmatter. There have been a large number of violent attacks on these two group of people. Would we have seen actual video footage of these incidents had it not been for the internet? Likely not. What is alarming is the immediate opinion formed by the sharer of those videos. Not that they are right or wrong, but there is no room for a conflicting opinion. Within the black lives matter site, you can see there is an actual organization behind the hashtag #blacklivesmatter. The internet is responsible for allowing a group of people to gather and fight for their rights. Something that would have proven much more difficult without the ease of communication through the internet. The negative side is, of course, opposing views. Those that do not fear to express hate because they are behind a computer. This is the altered reality caused by social media.

At the hands of the masses, everyone is striving to have a “perfect” perception of their social media selves. “As we know, perception is everything; especially in the world of social media. In terms of perception, we all have an ideal self. We all wish to maximize our careers, our profession, and aspire to be like those who we find most successful. As the use of social media continues to evolve; the concept of presenting our ideal selves versus our real selves has become more and more prevalent on social media” (Green, 2013). Technology is amazing. It allows simplification of daily tasks. Technology that allows humans to see each other constantly, even people we don’t know? Well, that was bound to cause the influx of silliness seen on social media today.

References

Perception [def. 3]. (n.d.). in Merriman-Webster Online retrieved from https://www.google.com/search?q=perception+definition&oq=perception+definition&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.3237j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Green, K. (August 7, 2013). The Social Media Effect: Are You Really Who You Portray Online?. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/r-kay-green/the-social-media-effect-a_b_3721029.html