A philosophical look at social media in accordance with Ali Shariati's ideas: The Fifth dungeon of humanity

ABSTRACT Human beings are creatures that have both individual and social aspects in their existence and reveal the interdependence of these two aspects in their own life practice. A person who thinks that he makes his choices with his free will in every event and situation he encounters is essentially under the influence of certain factors while expressing his choices in every event and situation he encounters throughout his life. It is a controversial issue whether a person has only his own choices within the psychology imposed on him by his living conditions. Human beings, who have inherent weaknesses, are under the influence of both environmental and social factors in the world they are born into. Ali Shariati argues that there are four determining elements in the life of human beings; He introduced these four elements, which he categorized as the determination of nature, the determination of history, the determination of society and the determination of man himself, into the literature with the analogy of "dungeon". Human beings have been affected, positively or negatively, by all the developments throughout history that can be considered as breaking points. The aim of this study, in addition to these four elements put forward by Ali Shariati, is to discuss the impact of the digital revolution after the developing technology on individuals and societies and to reveal social media as the fifth determining factor. The study was created as a result of research conducted by scanning the literature and using the semi-structured in-depth interview method. As a result of the study, it was seen that social media can be put forward as the fifth determining factor with its impact on individuals and societies. Keywords: Ali Shariati, Social media, Dungeon, Philosophical view