Essay: Social impact and issues of cyber reality

Social issues are an extreme indicator that cyber reality has been a detriment to our generation. People feel a sense of accomplishment when they blog about something that angers them, but what have they really achieved? The problem is that people aren’t actually doing anything. Joining a group on Facebook can surely raise awareness of a problem – but if action isn’t taken, then what is the point? All too often people will be quick to say that they support a cause without taking any action such as volunteering or donating money. Rather, people are quicker to take a stance on an issue through an online modem. Whereas in social and political history issues were solved through face-to-face meetings and debates, individuals now consider addressing an issue through a simple status online as a form of protest. Why bother leaving the house to do something if you can take a stand without leaving your couch?
The world around us seems to be an inconvenience to the world that takes place on a computer screen or on a phone. Our realities begin to collide as we become increasingly fixated on new gadgets, quicker communication, and upgrades. It is as if the world must be filtered through a phone or a computer for us to comprehend anything. People have become detached to the point that we need signs in restaurants and stores telling customers to get off of the phone before approaching the counter. The physical world around you is insignificant because you are not worried about it when texting people you wish you were around. Whatever is happening in the phone conversation is more important than paying attention to what is occurring around you. Don’t get me wrong, it is wonderful that people can stay connected with their family and friends who are spread across the country or even the world, but what about the people in the same room? There are students who are in a classroom together for months at a time and don’t even know each other’s names. We have become so self-absorbed that we hardly notice the people that we come into contact every day, and that is when it becomes not okay.
The idea of privacy seems to have disappeared along with the newly founded technologically based reality that has entered our lives. Do you really need to know about what someone had for breakfast or what shoes they just bought? When the Internet first became a publicly used tool, cyber stalking was one of the greatest fears (God forbid that someone could track you down and discover details about your life). Now, people voluntarily leave themselves open to having their every move followed on the internet—in fact, it’s encouraged. When we neglect cyber reality today, we almost feel as though we will be forgotten. Our identity is no longer important if not seen.
The freedom of cyber reality may seem safe, but as we make mistakes in physical reality that can be forgiven, the cyber world will never forget. Our jobs and future careers are now being affected by the way we represent ourselves online. Any employer that is interviewing for a position will most likely check and see if the applicants have a profile on a social networking site and browse for any information that helps or hurts the candidates chance at employment. A study by the U.S. National Association of Colleges and Employers States that “27% of employers have Google’d their job candidates or checked their profiles on social networking sites.” (George). Viewing someone’s profile can quickly change the way that they are perceived. Whether this perception is a fair representation of reality isn’t what matters; the impression has been made. The cyber reality is the only reality that is important.
Because cyberspace is a place known for freedom, we have begun to invent new identities for ourselves. For better or worse, we can be whoever we tell people we are. It doesn’t matter what you look like; you are who your profile and online persona says that you are. People can accept it or not. You are anonymous and free to do what you want. This can be a therapeutic and empowering thing, or it can be destructive and cause problems discerning reality from a fantasy that has been created online. You can build a community online and do something productive, or you can get lost in a fantasy world of your own creation. It all depends on your state of mind.
Plato’s allegory of the cave is a perfect portrait of the possible repercussions of cyberspace used in excess. Plato illustrates a scenario where prisoners are chained and forced to look at shadows on the wall their whole lives as a form of reality they believe to be true. One prisoner is released and is able to see the light, but those who are still chained do not believe him when they hear of this light. Metaphorically speaking, we are bound by the illusions of the things we choose to see. We must, as humans, unbind ourselves from viewing life through the shackled reality in front of us an embrace the light. When an individual becomes consumed with cyber reality, they annihilate their ability to see the light beyond that which is in front of them. The Internet becoming the shackles that bind users to the reality set forth online (the shadows). The users begin the see life through the shadows on the wall of how they are supposed to eat, breath and live. We must break free from these ideals projected upon us in order to embrace that which is around us.
The pressures that come with cyber space are immense. We are pressured to look a certain way, to eat certain foods, to be consistently happy, and to live up to an ideal that doesn’t exist. Because of this fact, cyber reality has been known to increase depression in its users. According to the 2010 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, “social media users who consume the highest amounts of content report a decrease in social bonding and an increase in loneliness.” When we create these personas online, it takes away the amount of time we should be using building on our true selves, and replaces it with time trying to be who we think we should be.
Cyberspace is a powerful instrument for doing research and interacting with people across the world. We need to realize though, that it is not our friend, our baby sitter, and most definitely not the only way to communicate with each other. We have entered a new era of technological breakthroughs in communication. We need to use these tools in a way that truly benefits our lives rather than complicating them and adding to the stress that we already endure. There is a huge amount of information available, but too much time and effort goes into paying attention to trivial fluff that entertains without offering any informational value. Hang up the phone and have a conversation someone who you see every day. People need to learn to use cyberspace to benefit their relationships and stay in touch without cutting themselves off from reality.
Life is incredibly beautiful. & I’m constantly in awe of everything surrounding me. I think there is an ongoing pressure in the digital world to “be known,” to “have an exciting life,” to “have amazingly romanticized relationships,” when life is already exceedingly poetic as it is. I think people are way too often trying to portray the ideal of “fun” and “love” and “living” that they forget what it actually means. It’s not about the portrayal; it’s about the reality. It’s when we become so consumed with the act that we neglect the optics of society. It’s when we take risks and voyage toward true self-love. It’s when we are so violently monopolized and entranced by life that not even our shadows can find us.