Just as I was posting pictures of my life, I was getting a rush from how people would perceive me as. It was I who controlled how I appeared on Instagram, but little did I know what I started, would be detrimental and addicting to my own psyche. The goal of social media is to hook users to their phones so that they are chained to the versions of truth and knowledge presented on the screen. In the “Allegory of the Cave”, Plato explains how the prisoners were chained and could only see the shadows on the wall. They thought that the shadows seen on the wall were real. However, as one prisoner broke free, the prisoner finally realizes that the shadows were actually not real and understood how it was just shadows.
So, just like the posts on social media, the prisoners will perceive the shadows on the wall as real. Similar to “Allegory of the Cave”, the episode “Post, Shoot” from the podcast Invisibilia explains the consequences of presenting another reality, causing chaos in one’s life. Like Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, the images that people see may not be entirely true, which can be seen in modern day with the use of social media and the way how users are able to present the world in any way they want, which can lead to a distortion of facts.
Our eyes are the tools to see information given to us and as smartphones are more prominent in our daily lives, we are susceptible to having a false sense of reality by being glued to these devices by social media. In the episode, “Post, Shoot” from the podcast Invisibilia by Hanna Rosa, Rosa talks about how a teenager named Brandon was fatally shot because of posting guns and gang pictures on social media for clout. Rosa shares, “Photos of Brandon trying to contort his sweet baby face into a mean grimace and pointing his hand in the shape of a gun at the camera.” (00:07:08-00:07:23) This is a tragic example of what happens when one misrepresents who they are on social media.
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Brandon’s social media account made it seem like he was part of a gang and liked guns. However, in real life, Brandon was actually a sweet kid who liked eating sandwiches. Brandon’s post relates to how social media can provide us with a false reality of who one is and how negative consequences such as death can occur. Rosa reminds us that no matter who you are, when something of you goes onto social media even if it’s not true, it can trigger a domino effect as people react to a post. In fact, people do not realize the difference between the two realities of what is real and false. For instance, in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”, Plato explains that the prisoners stuck in the cave are only limited to see the shadows on the wall. However, the prisoner that broke free and leaves the cave finally realizes that the shadows on the wall are not real and are in fact, just shadows.
Plato comments, “Like ourselves, I replied; and they see only their own shadows, or the shadows of one another; which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave?” (304) The prisoners in the cave can only see their own shadows or what they choose to see. Plato believes that their reality is limited to their assumptions rather than real knowledge. A comparison can be drawn between how people on social media can believe the images are true just like how the prisoners believe that the shadows on the wall are true.
People who currently have social media influences other people to use social media. As social media allows people to misrepresent their lives, it makes people envious into wanting a perfect life that they see on social media. For example, in Netflix’s series, Black Mirror, the episode, “Nose Dive”, features an insecure protagonist named Lucy who is obsessed with getting her ratings up to become part of the higher social class. Lucy looks at the billboard of Pelican cove and imagines a picture of her and a guy having a romantic dinner. Then, she scrolls down on her feed, seeing that her childhood friend has a 4.8 out of 5 stars rating and becomes envious of her life. (00:10:37-00:10:45)
Black Mirror illustrates how Lucy wants her life just like her childhood friend because she sees how luxurious her life is. The images on social media do not show the problems that one faces in life, misrepresenting the truth of what is going on. Not only does social media misrepresent the truth, it also gets people hooked on it which leads to time getting wasted. Lucy spends so much time trying to practice her speech for Naomi, her childhood friend just so she can get her ratings to go up. (00:23:39-00:24:00) As a result, Lucy finds herself spending most of her time to become part of a social status that she is not part of. Because of social media, it drives one to believe that it is possible for their life to be what they see on their social media feed.
Knowledge is being hindered by the mindset that is developed on social media. As one spends most of their time on social media, it causes the inability for the mind to grow because you are stuck into thinking what you see is true. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” suggests how the knowledge of the prisoners chained in the cave is similar to that of the mindset of social media users. Plato says,” Human beings living in an underground den, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the den; here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them.” (303) When one is confined in the same place for an extended period of time, the mind can result in a fixed mindset and can not be able to grow.
Plato tells us how the prisoners in the cave are only limited to what they can see so they can not be able to learn and grow as a person. The prisoner’s viewpoint of thinking what is true like the shadows will only be the same because that is what they are able to see. In addition, in the episode, “Post, Shoot” from the Podcast Invisibilia by Hanna Rosa, Rosa demonstrates how people do not question the pictures that you post on social media. Rosa shares,” You put a picture of yourself on Facebook in a graduation gown, and just like with gang pictures, people don’t ask questions. They don’t bother with the details or the context.” (00:47:12-00:47:26) Pictures can speak a thousand words, and it can possibly mean anything. People will not validate whether the pictures you post are part of your life. Instead, they will think it’s real because the mindset that people develop on social media is only one view of the world.
Social media has become a platform for those who want others to associate their image with money, fame, and power to the point of one losing themselves in a world of a forged facade. Teenagers are at the stage where they have identity issues and being pressured to appear a certain way really puts them in a position to do absurd things. In the episode, “Post, Shoot” from podcast Invisibilia by Hanna Rosa, Rosa introduces how teenagers utilizes social media to his advantage to look like a baller. When I mean baller it’s in the aspect of having expendable income, loads of cash in your hands, and the respect from everyone even your elite socialite friends. This is what teenagers aspire to be.
Rosa reports,”And this kid who goes by Savage, who’s a friend of Brandon’s started talking about how everyone they know does stuff like that-like, this friend of theirs who will not be named who posed with a wad of cash in his hand that was not actually his. It was his mom’s.” (00:09:21-00:09:33) Teenagers use the image of showing cash to represent themselves as rich. It falsifies what is real because the teenager posing with the cash is actually posing with the money from his mom. The idea of posing for clout causes negative consequences because it can lead to danger from people knowing you have money. Money and fame comes together because in society, people associate people who are popular as having a lot of money. Similar to “Post, Shoot”, the episode, “Nose Dive” in the Netflix series, Black Mirror, the episode demonstrates how Lucy forgets about her daily life and focuses on getting to attend a wedding to earn more ratings.
“Lucy chooses to leave her job just so she can attend an extraordinary wedding. Her flight gets delayed and her friend, Naomi doesn’t even care whether or not she comes. Lucy struggles with the problem of trying to achieve a higher social status. (00:32:46-00:33:06) This shows how Lucy forgets about what is actually going on in her life and leaves everything to want to become popular. She thought that Naomi would be as sweet as she saw on her social media, but does not know that she was pretending to care about Lucy. Due to this reason, this episode teaches us how fame is not the most important thing to focus on and the pictures that are seen on social media are not entirely true.
The role of power in different societies explains how one can distinguish and differentiate the truth. The police have the authority to choose who to ask the evidence from and blame it on whoever they want. “White teens can flex all they want on Instagram in a way black people just can’t afford to do. The police aren’t watching.” (00:38:25-00:38:31) In this quote, the police have the power to check evidence from black people even when they are not the ones to blame. This role of power shows how misrepresentation can occur towards black people because the police causes people to think that black people are at fault. The police uses their authority to use the images posted on social media and investigate it in an unfair way.
Using social media everyday causes one to see how lives can be misrepresented with false images and texts. Like Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, the images that people see may not be entirely true, which can be seen in modern day with the use of social media and the way how users are able to present the world in any way they want, which can lead to a distortion of facts. People tend to associate themselves with money and fame in social media to create another false life. This can lead to negative consequences such as death and brutality. Not everything seen on social media is real and it is important to not believe all the images that are seen. What’s more important is making the decision of validating what is seen on social media and to think twice before posting a false picture online.
