Feeding The Social Media Monster

There is a new poison in our society that is slowly but surely eroding any sense of dignity, respect and sensibility. This poison is so infectious that if not dealt with will destroy our youth. This monster is called Social Media. 

It seems young South Africans will do just about anything to feed this monster which heavily feeds of the insatiable need for attention. Thanks to this medium everybody can be a celeb these days al beit very temporary. Lets face it, you will trend for a day or even few hours and soon after that people forget who you are.  

The need for instant attention and that 15 minutes of fame has caused people to say things that leaves one wondering if they had taken a second to pounder their thoughts before they click that send button on their phones or computers. 

Unfortunately, this trend to feed the monster has caused people jobs and cast a shadow on others’ characters and credibility. 

This morning I got a BBM link from a friend about an article on News24 that claims that Mandela sold out blacks. I read the article, though I disagreed with some of the views in it, found it interesting and well written. 

That was until I saw the author’s comments on his Facebook page. He happily boasts that the article has been trending on Twitter internationally for 2 days and continues to say that this is a feet that even the most accomplished columnist in this country can claim. 

"By the way my article on News24 is still trending on Twitter worldwide for 2 days in a row with so many hits. Not even established columnists achieve this. Somebody pass me the mirror."

He is absolutely true. Very few journalists or columnists can get their articles to trend but what he fails to understand is that perhaps the motive behind their work is not fueled by social media attention. 

With that, can one now assert that the author was just trying to get attention by his views on Mandela’s role in our country’s future pre-1994? 

Firstly, though some statements needed more research and an understanding of the role of leaders, judging by the author's writting prowess he is intelligent enough to have known that Mandela did not just wake up and decide on the terms of negotiations. 

Mandela was a leader of the party and even if the author did not know what that entails he surely has been in this country long enough to know that matters are voted on and debated within the party before the president can make a declaration. He does not act alone but acts on behalf of all the stakeholders and branches of the party.

I am not gonna get into the politics of his views but could not help wondering what this type of behaviour is doing to the role of free speech in our society. 

Due to his gloating, he has cast a shadow of doubt on the merits of his opinions. Does he genuinely believe those views he shared? 

To his credit he was bold enough to raise a point of view that is shared by other people. It would also be disingenuous of me to just dismiss him as a rebel rouser without knowing what his motive was but I was intrigued to read his gloating about his article trending. 

That said, I think there is a room to think about what role social media attention and its implications have in our society. 

In the meantime, by all means pass that gentleman a mirror so ogle at himself because he has definitely gotten the attention he wanted!!

Read the full article HERE