Why read “1984” by George Orwell in the age of social media
By: David Torres
Tags: Self Improvement, Social Media, Reading, Life, Books

Why read “1984” by George Orwell in the age of social media

One of the best dystopias ever written

Photo by Viktor Forgacs on Unsplash

Author’s Life:

Before he was a worldwide writer, George Orwell, born in Motihari India, distinguished among other boys by his poverty and intellectual brilliance, he won two scholarships from two of England Leading Schools: Wellington and Eton.

Aldous Huxley was one of his masters; no wonder George Orwell also got to publish great novels; this is where I believe that having a great mentor can significantly impact your life.

After the publication of his first book: “Down and Out in Paris and London,” he changed his name from Eric Arthur Blair to George Orwell, this was because he was sure that the book would be a failure, and he didn’t want to associate his real name with it. Even after the book was a success, he kept the pseudonym and didn’t write under that name again.

One of his friends (Richard Rees, Editor of the Adelphi Magazine) states that:

“He was the most ‘literary’ man I’ve ever known — absorbed, obsessed with wanting to be a writer.”

George Orwell was the author of “Animal Farm,” “Politics and the English Language,” “Home to Catalonia,” and, of course, “1984” (among others.)

Why should you read “1984.”

In “1984”, Orwell writes about what would be England if it has a totalitarian government. Totalitarianism is a concept for a form of government that prohibits opposition parties, restricts individual opposition, and exercises an excessively high degree of control over public and private life.

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The book immediately makes you doubt the world you live in, for example:

“Heavy physical work, the care of home and children, petty quarrels with neighbors, films, football, beer, and above all, gambling, filled up the horizon of their minds… It was not desirable that the proles should have strong political feelings. All that was needed was a primitive patriotism that could be appealed to whenever necessary to make them accept longer working hours or shorter rations. And even when they became discontented, as they sometimes did, their discontent led nowhere because being without general ideas; they could only focus it on petty specific grievances. There was a vast amount of criminality in London, a whole world-within-a-world of thieves, bandits, prostitutes, drug-peddlers, and racketeers of every description. Still, since it all happened among the working class themselves, it was of no importance.”

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Can you relate the previous quote to our daily lives? Now I will introduce you to the main character: Winston Smith.

He’s a 39-year-old man who works for the government. He could have the luxury of buying a book and a pen (illegal objects) in an antique shop. He would write all his despiteful thoughts against “Big Brother,” he was tired of seeing the working class as a bunch of people who cared only about entertainment and work.

Winston’s work consisted of rewriting world history so that everything that the government would say would be consistent. If the government said that the sky was green, but the next day, it would say that it was blue, Winston’s work was rewriting history so that people would believe that.

Just as the book states:

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”

How the book can relate to our current society

In 2018 we had the scandal that happened between Cambridge Analytica (Data Analytics Enterprise) and Facebook; I recommend watching “The Great Hack” on Netflix.

In 2014, Facebook allowed various applications with research purposes; these apps would gather data from users who agreed to the privacy policy.

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However, Cambridge Analytica put his app (Thisisyourdigitallife), which gathered without the user’s consent; the app collected 270,000 user data. For example, if I had used the app, I would have given my friend’s data access.. According to BBC, Cambridge Analytica had data from 87 million people.

The purpose of the data was to analyze the users’ behavior and make propaganda in social media that would go against Hillary Clinton in the presidential elections of 2016, giving Donald Trump more chances to win.

Everything you’re reading in this article is something I posted in my old blog; back in 2018, I found some exciting news to share. And when I use the links again, this is what happens:

Forbes link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jodywestby/2018/03/27/what-is-amazing-about-the-facebook cambridge-analytica-story/#67071ffa7d34

Business Insider link: https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-cambridge-analytica-affected-us-states-graphic-2018-%206?r=MX&IR=T

We tend to forget easily.

Today’s society is similar to “1984.”?

No, we don’t live in a totalitarian government; we make our daily routines by making our own decisions. However, think about how much of your own life and consciousness also exist in social media you willingly post online.

Many of these platforms are fantastic ways to publicize pictures of yourself being cool and to also publish your thoughts from the sublime to the ridiculous. Social media is undeniably pleasant and fun to use, but have you ever read the privacy policy of each service you use?

Photo by camilo jimenez on Unsplash

In the book, Winston couldn’t turn off his telescreen; many of us choose not to turn ours off, exposing a lot of our own lives to surveillance. I believe that each of us sometimes watches each other in the best ways and the worst ways by looking at that person’s profile, judging in silence, envying in the shadows, or worst, comparing ourselves.

I believe these behaviors shape our lives.