Exploring the dark side of social media justice through the lens of mob mentality and tribal confirmation bias, this analysis questions whether platforms that amplify our worst impulses can be trusted for objective information.
There is a very scary scene in the movie Stolen. Where a man asks you to get down from the car. And accuses you of child theft. That too on the suspicion that someone had posted something on their Yuva Raksha WhatsApp group and it went viral, what was the context of which, that you were just arguing with someone, and someone recorded it and spread it in that group and what do you think? Now whom will people listen to there? What will happen to you when you get caught?
Where there is no police or administration, but people. That this is the age of new online mob justice will give you justice. Media, the social media, which rises above the corruption of legacy media and gives justice to the common public in their own hands. Even in movies with their own voice, the power of social media, the power of students, can unite the new generation so much.
Even Shankar exaggerated on his own terms that, showing them means that only one side of the truth is enough. To get justice for the mob and now it is a very terrifying situation to put yourself in because an out of context photo, a statement, a video, a small scene is enough to cost your life. Who knows better than us that this entire algorithm of social media runs on extreme collective outreach. No one has to argue on a healthy neutral ground.
Everyone has to see when the bullets are going to be fired from both sides. Where like legacy media, here too everyone has to get views, watch time, go viral and become famous. So how can it be believed on this anonymous basis that this social media tool gives a neutral platform to every voice. This too is completely biased. Rather call it a powerful mirror which is just amplifying the primordial behavior, desires and diseases of humans like the wild ones.
Where it may not be, you must believe that the facts that I am seeing are those that I have joined in a small group in my city. On the advice of a friend that very important things happen here. People are called upon to tell you once. The truth that is being shown there. Is it really the truth? Is it the truth for you? Because who knows, that information was just thrown there for someone’s 15 minutes of fame and now with AI it is extremely easy to frame someone that it was you. Behind this brutality, one must now accept that
that we now give up the hope of objective information from the internet. Even if it is shared through your very close friend on a WhatsApp group and not only this, do not think here that we are only talking about AI, here I am also talking about the tribal confirmation which is a psychological phenomenon.
Where people seek such beliefs only. Which cater only to their beliefs and values. Which are considered correct only in their social group. Where the evaluation of questions is done not on any objectivity but on social norms. That this is what has been happening since our ancestors. So only those who say this are right. Rest of you are wrong and if you think deeply then there is nothing wrong in it, because our behavior is like this.
We are social animals, we want companionship due to which we tend to accept the ideas that make us feel accepted by our people, now no matter how low that idea is and if there is any argument. So why don’t we sit quietly and listen to both the sides and then take a decision, know the truth of both the sides, know the priorities of both and then take a decision, it is better than this.
Why not have a gladiator style online spectacle where the audience removes his mic, throws it away and walks away. And then electrifying edits are made on the internet that oh brother you have shut him up and then go and give your mean pages on them. And you already know that when it takes over. To give its justice, the public’s court is taken over. The memes, sarcasm and reflection of that week are turned into a joke. Where you can see it like this that the internet is such a courtesan. Where even your deepest darkest most fucked up dated desires have their own circle.
There is a group, a community, where finally you will be able to feel that this is my place, this is where I belong and then when someone wants to attack that group, that ideology, that belief system of yours. So you will try your best to protect it. You will unite all your resources, all your friends, all your intentions, which used to be the case earlier. People used to say that the Internet is omniscience, here every person can know everything, can learn, can give his voice in everything and can be a part of everything. Which has no side, no end, it is just a seduction. Now on the next tab, where will I get validation or should I say that I can do well.
And I know that here I sound like a super villain, that it also brings a moral flattening. It might have been there but the thing to understand is this. When everything gets equal urgency, then nothing is really urgent. And when everyone’s voice gets equal height, then the voice of understanding gets suppressed. The platforms are not inherently evil The AI is not inherently evil They are tools, and the tools reflect the nature of their users Which ultimately comes down to the same question: Can we trust the new media and my answer will be our own.
The conclusion emphasizes that we must master these tools rather than become slaves to their algorithms.
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