THE MARXIST CONCEPT OF ALIENATION AND ITS IMPLICATIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE OPINION FORMING OF THE USER

Abstract

The present essay proposes to relate the notion of alienation constructed by Karl Marx to the phenomenon that influences millions of Internet users every day and the formation of their opinions. Humanity lives the so-called “Digital Era”, in which there is a great flow of information at great speed; in addition, people spend more and more time connected to the Internet through the most variable devices, using it to work, to study, to keep themselves informed, to buy and to sell, to have fun, among many other possibilities. In the context of immersion of Internet users in this parallel “world” of information, questions arise about what information reaches the users, through what criteria, and especially how this can influence their opinion forming.