The Comment Factory

Social networks have enabled human beings to have a platform for self-representation. Each person has his or her own account in one or two of them, into which they pour a collage of their mental-external- ideological-political-artistic self. It enables people to interact based on the data placed on each others pages and partake in many so called “social” activities. If one does not belong to a social network they can consider themselves out of the sphere of human interaction. In our busy world it has become an alternative way to keep your social life with as many people as you can at the same time. While aware of the many advantages of the social networks, and being an active user myself, I can not refrain from wondering about reality and the representation of it in those networks. The page contains the name and picture of a person that I seem to know, but is the representation of him or her the way they choose to do it on their web page or is it their true self? Moreover, these networks has driven information from reality into the virtual world and it is popping back into reality many times.

The best example for it is that many employers in western countries tend to search in a search engine for the perspective employees name to find their social network personal page, and this can many times determine if the person is hired or not, all depending on the representation of the perspective employee creates in the virtual world. In another case a boss caught staff members faking an illness by looking at their facebook status. The social network page is in fact your representation in the eyes of those who know you or those who do not know you. Despite the reality feature of familiar names and pictures, this is far from being reality.

In a less formal context, as in every social space, even on a social network there are visitors with the goal of meeting members of the opposite sex for romantic purposes. This is considered safer because the reality projected on your personal page seems reliable. People will know your personal status, age, zodiac sign, likes, dislikes, and if they are lucky enough they will get a glimpse of you without make up because one of your friends will always post a photo to humiliate you. With mimesis of this sort, the line between reality and representation is being blurred . The next stage will be to initiate a textual communication with the object of interest. This creates another portal for interpretation. As a trained reader of books, one can not always hit the authors meaning. The author can at this stage reinforce the falsehood and contribute to the image he or she creates of themselves while the reader is spoon-fed to accept it. It is no wonder that net predators have became so widespread – we cannot and do not want to differentiate the person from his representation.

Net predators and employer-employee relations are only small examples of how complex self-representation has become online. There are many dangers based on these “truths” and this generation is being raised to believe in truths as they appear on the personal newsfeed of a social network. One should transcend from the realm of the auto portrayal to understand that beyond it there is a person who can not be explained by pictures, videos or status lines. The essence of a person’s true spirit remains abstract and it is a riddle that will not be solved by looking at a mere representation, even if created by him.