Social Media and Reality

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Social Media and Reality
Introduction
The advent of social media was one that was met with a lot of pomp and fanfare by many people. Everyone wanted to have a Facebook account and take part in whatever discussions that were happening. People tried to upload as many pictures as possible with the sole purpose of trying to outdo each other and show others that they are indeed living their best lives. Celebrities like the famous footballer Christiano Ronaldo have garnered more following around their world, as many people want to marvel and get the inside of how he is living his life. Back in February of 2021, Christiano Ronaldo became the first person in the world to have more than 500 million social media followers across all social media platforms (Daniels). Today, such feats are exalted and more people are trying to put out content that they believe will help them get more followers. Getting more followers, likes, reactions, and comments on one's posts have gained a lot of importance, and people are investing more of their time and resources to put out 'great content.' What many people seem to ignore is the fact that the lives that they adore are quite apart from their reality. When people watch Christiano's life, their perception of what is real and how their lives should be changes. Many wish for the same lifestyle. While there is no problem with the celebrities sharing their lifestyles, the problem arises when an average follower goes ahead to "believe that these kinds of lifestyles are normal – and achievable" (Chafer). When exposed to such lifestyles every other day, people are likely to develop a liking to the lifestyles that they see on these platforms. However, the reality of life is that there can only be a few people with as much success and wealth in the world. There is a need, therefore, to sensitize people against the ideas of chasing illusions. Social media can be a great tool that fosters unity of purpose and brings people together against common societal evils. For example, Jackson, Bailey, and Welles (98) offer details of how Twitter was used to organize protests in 2009 after the death of Grant. The authors note that Twitter was used to "inform members when and where to meet for the first protest of Grant's death on January 7, 2009" (98). There is no denying the power of social media. However, its destruction or impact in disrupting reality should also not be downplayed.
The Campaign
The campaign at hand will seek to speak on the effects of social media on reality. The campaign does not seek to denounce the contribution that social media has made and how it continues to change lives with hashtags and campaigns that take the world by storm. During the Arab Spring, the world got front-row seats as the Egyptians and Tunisians used social media platforms to stage protests that led to regime changes. As Tufekci (xxii) notes, Facebook was the main engine of the Egyptian protests. Tufekci speaks of a particular Facebook page in Egypt that had become a "forum for organizing the initial Tahrir uprising and had mustered hundreds of thousands of supporters." People were only supposed to say they were attending, and they were part of the movement and revolution. De...