How Social Media Changes the World
By: Aisha Adelia
Tags: Discrimination, Six Degrees Of Separation, Social Media, Social Justice, Social Media Presence

That’s my story. The point of this whole storytelling is social media matters. Your existence in social media matters. In fact, your existence in social media affects your real life. I’ll elaborate that with another story (please don’t be bored and judgemental, okay?).

My sister and I have been using dating app for a few months. It’s the last resort to hopelessly find the one, or at least someone (this is getting embarrassing). She and I have our own success, with her being 95% successful while me being 5% (I’m okay, don’t mind me). Anyway, the thing with dating app is everyone is not to be trusted. You have to be skeptical. I’m actually a positive thinker but in this case I’d love to stalk some people rather than getting fooled.

Stalking is the only way to do background check on people we don’t know anything about. When stalking, what’s the first thing you do? Yes, Google. But because everyone is generally normal people, there’s no news article or business website writing about them, right? Or Wikipedia. Or Forbes website (keep dreaming). So, the result is mostly from social media; Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

When you don’t have them, your existence is questioned. Why doesn’t he/she have any social media? Is he/she a real person? Is he/she really a [insert college name] student? Is he/she really a [insert company name] employee? Everything becomes too suspicious just because you don’t sign up to some shit. Well, it’s like your social media existence = your real life.

I, at times, because of my Instagram presence that’s barely alive, feel like I’m suspicious in some way. That’s what social media does. When you don’t get enough likes, you question yourself. When you don’t receive any birthday wishes from anyone’s Instagram story, you question yourself. But there’s nothing wrong with you. It’s just… how social media works and benefits from you. You should watch The Social Dilemma if you haven’t for elaboration, but I will give you a hint. You don’t get enough likes > you post more > social media benefits more.

The Era of Social Justice

That being said, social media rules the world. Everyone with an internet connection has at least one (except my mom, of course). In social media, everyone is allowed to say anything (except what’s forbidden by UU ITE, please beware). Everyone has a say.

Ever wonder why people are getting offended easily nowadays? Why are social norms so tight now? Why do people pay attention to social justice and inclusivity now more than ever? Why now? I once had no idea at all. But then I’m starting to figure out why.

In the U.S. this year alone, there are at least two brands (as far as I know) which make rebranding effort because of their logos’ association with slavery; Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben’s. I mean, these brands have been around for so long (133 and 77 years old respectively), so why now? I know there’s the protest this year, but it doesn’t explain why not earlier when the civil rights movement was happening?

Also, there are so many celebrities being called out and cancelled for things they did or said in the past. Tyra Banks, a judge and the creator of America’s Next Top Model, was called out recently because she dissed a contestant who wouldn’t close her tooth gap. She did in a video gone viral a little too late, and that’s 14 years later.

Jimmy Fallon, the TV host, was called out earlier this year when a video of him doing a Chris Rock impersonation on Saturday Night Live 20 years ago resurfaced because he was wearing blackface. (As you may already know, blackface is a makeup used by white people to represent a black person, and it was once used in form of mockery towards slaves.) In response, Chris Rock said of Jimmy, “He didn’t mean anything,” and “He doesn’t have a racist bone in his body.” But this doesn’t change anything because in people’s minds, Jimmy is cancelled and that’s it.

It’s funny that the thing Tyra and Jimmy did were considered normal. People weren’t mad when these episodes of ANTM and SNL aired. They weren’t mad for more than a decade. But they are now. It’s like the rage has been in the cage for so long and unleashes. Again, why now?

It’s logical if you think it’s because of the lockdown, people have much more free time, they watch old episodes, and so on. But I only give you the examples of past “wrongdoing” to emphasize the difference between social norms then and now. The MeToo movement, the Oscars new rules for Best Picture category, and the very recent statement made by The Weeknd against Grammys indicate how the world has changed no matter what.

Back then, people tend to keep everything to themselves. If anything, they will only tell people they know, which is a small circle. People with heavier weight have been subject to bullying for so long. Before social media, they only tell people they know that they don’t like being bullied. Since social media is here, people being bullied have a say. They tweet, they post, and that means it’s for the world to know that they’re being bullied.

Now the world knows that A is being bullied. B, who has been bullied too, comes to A’s defense after reading his tweet. C reads B’s tweet and admits that she was once bullied when in elementary school. D reads this and sympathizes because her sister is being bullied too. It goes on and on, until it forms a chain of conversation about bullying which is interesting for people who are being or have been bullied to engage. Imagine, without social media, it would have been impossible to gather 1,000 people having experience with bullying in a day, but social media can make it happen in an hour if not less.

This conversation not only attracts people who are being or have been or have their relatives bullied. It also attracts you, me, and so many others. Human is human, we feel for people. We care. We sympathize. So, when there’s this person who calls someone fat the next day, we remember the conversation about bullying and feel the sympathy again. We hate this person for saying such offensive thing. That’s when the phrase “body shaming” created.

It applies to everything; weight, height, race, skin, religion, culture, health, wealth, gender, etc. You may call someone crippled in the most negative tone possible at a random supermarket parking lot back in the day because he/she pisses you off. But don’t do it now, please. That person could record you saying something like, “You crippled bitch! *peep*,” post it on social media, the video going viral, and the next day you lose your job. You probably go to prison too (UU ITE is creeping). You’re not just being an ass is all I’m saying, your whole life could crumble with your shitty attitude too.