Page 32 - Peoples_Journal_Sri_Lanka

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ISSN 3121-3049
People's Journal Sri Lanka Volume 01, Issue 01

indeed shows how social media acts as a resource to gather public opinion
and how it can be used for the betterment of an entire community. However,
they were also aware of legal restrictions and time limits when using these
platforms to rally people‘s opinions.

Participants of this study pointed out that Facebook has the potential to
gather public opinion, and it also boosts the number of people with whom the
information can be shared. They also pointed out that such gatherings of
public opinion transcend the virtual space and move onto real-time activities
when members of Facebook groups and pages organize protests and rallies
against injustices to the environment. This opinion is strongly supported by
their idea that more educated and committed environmentalists should be
invited to these groups and pages. According to participants, Facebook could
be used to attract teenagers to work on these environmental issues as well.
Thus, social media can be used not only to form groups of interested
individuals, but also to carry the message of the importance of acting toward
environmental justice to the next generation.

Participants‘ opinions on the failure of Facebook to provide awareness of
current environmental issues are also of significance. Lack of information,
unreliability of information regarding environmental issues were pointed out
as major reasons for this failure in communication. The bias of information
regarding environmental issues was another significant factor. These
opinions indicate that even though a strong public opinion can be formed
through a platform such as Facebook, there are other parties trying to
regulate the flow of information and its reliability it in order to fulfill their
own private agendas. Attention seeking and hidden political agendas could
be the reason for such behavior on social media, which indicates the acts of
capitalism in the midst of public opinion.

9. Conclusion

The primary purpose of social media platforms such as Facebook is to
provide entertainment at the individual level. Even though they publicize the
idea of connecting people, they implicitly create a ground where people get
isolated within their own worlds. This capitalistic strategy of individualizing
people itself has created a platform in the form of social media for people