Social Reality Vs Mediated Reality: A Case Study of a Female Pakistani TikToker

Abstract

This research is undertaken in Pakistani context where people’s lives have been transformed from traditional norms and values to mass society traits thanks to the deep penetration of social media. This paper focuses on an unfortunate incident which took place in Lahore, Pakistan. The paper intends to study the case of a Pakistani female Tik Toker who purposefully invited her social media followers to a public park near the historic Minaar-e-Pakistan Lahore on August 14, 2021 in a bid to meet offline. Soon after she reached the public park, her followers, 500 odd in number turned mob and surrounded her. They came closer and closer to her and started to touch her body. Given this case, the study tends to critically review the social reality and mediated reality in theoretical perspective. The paper employs case study strategy based on review of literature revolving around Gerbner’s cultivation theory. The review focuses mainly on the works of (Gerbner (1970 & 76), George et al (1980), Matabane, (1988), Busselle, et al (2004) as important contributors to the area of cultivation analysis. The paper aims at finding answers to questions like how the mediated reality i.e. cordial social media relationship between the Tik Toker and her followers became bitter in real life, and what caused the shift of turning from the norms of traditional real life where women are respected to mediated culture where actors are considered as public property?  Anticipated findings suggest that mediated reality have a deep impression on the social reality in Pakistan.