By
Obododimma Oha
With the advancement
of Internet technology into social media communication, often regarded as
citizen journalism, have come all kinds of headaches. Any reptile armed with an
android – probably bought from gbanjo
sales (a Nigerian auction) – connected to the Internet, is now a warrior and
can lure you into an unnecessary argument on Facebook or WhatsApp. Let me not
plunge into that negative pool yet. Let me first acknowledge that citizen
journalism is very good for this time, especially to break the monopoly of
governments and some privileged individuals over news affecting our lives; in
fact, in defining for us what makes “news” and what does not. Given that
censorious governments want to order or control your view of reality as a
citizen, where else or in what direction do they look if not at information –
to hide or distort it; to privilege that which favours them or leave out that
which does not; to make silence preferable to eloquence? Even privileged
individuals that own news industries would do their own strategic news
production and you remain the victim. Unless and when they find brown envelopes
or transfers to their accounts, be sure that that news, if reported, would be
minus or plus!
Given this
unfortunate picture where the “consumer” of news is the victim, the advent of
social media as free subscriber enterprise is highly welcome. In the first
place, one is liberated from news tyranny. This is not a good day for
tyrannical governments that try to control information as a way of controlling
one’s life! So, everybody could be a source or reporter of news? So, that
incident reported by that insignificant fellow on Facebook has caught global
attention? So, the government now has an additional headache and would deploy
agents to hunt disseminators of news that should not have seen the light of
day? Bad day, indeed!
For me, it is OK.
Shouldn’t Jerry spend his life going after Tom? And is part of the
entertainment not seen in the fact that Jerry gets hurt or falls victim to his
own machination, a victim of his own plans against Tom? It is really part of
the entertainment and part of the politics of the news.
So, everyone is a
reporter, instead of those “entrusted” with the definition of “newsworthiness”?
You would think that this is a big problem, given that there would be
information deluge. Where does one see Jonah to teach one how to build an ark
to handle this kind of deluge? It could be depressing, not only for governments
or government agents who are involved in playing Tom and Jerry, but for
ordinary consumers out there. Almost every split second the post lands on one’s
phone. The alert sounds on WhatsApp, Facebook, imo, Instagram, Telegram, etc
and one has to learn to manage all these. Wives that are cooking may forget to
add salt in the process of checking the phone to see this or that update. Even
students that are supposed to read their books and pass examinations are
equally distracted. While crossing the road, they are punching the buttons and
listening to music. Look out so that you won’t knock down somebody o!
It would look as if
the problem is the phone or the Internet or the social media. No! The problem
is wrong attitude, wrong use; in fact, BAD use. If the those that made the
phone or allowed us to use social media “free” does this all the time, would
they even be able to have enough time to finish producing the phones in
commercial quantities for others to buy? It is a matter of wise use, of being
selective in picking what to read, what to respond to or to ignore, and what to
commit oneself to. I pointed out earlier that one reptile somewhere armed with
a cheap android phone and connected to the Internet may lure one into an
unnecessary debate. That happens all the time on social media and listservs
because we are not selective in reading, commenting, or responding to posts.
Sometimes, one has to ignore a negative comment from an idiot and allow others
online to see his or her idiocy. The fellow may just be setting a trap for you,
for you to go down the gutters with them. Leave them to swim alone in the
gutters. When they are tired, they get out: if and only if they can get out
without stinking!
That one has ignored
a negative comment does not make one a coward. It rather raises one higher on a
moral scale. I need to point out here that each time one opens one’s mouth or
writes something down for public consumption, one is subjecting oneself to
public scrutiny. One is actually the custodian of one’s face in discourse; and
it is not just what others say, not what one says or does. So, reveal yourself
and harm yourself. Even boasting (to clean up, to undermine) could have a
negative impact on one’s face.
Let us try to be
uncomplicated about this. So, precisely, I advise you as follows:
1.
Be selective in handling the deluge of
information on social media;
2.
Know that some of the information
could be injurious to your health and in
other aspects – could be dispensable stressors asking to be discarded;
3.
Some of the information could be false
and mischievously misleading;
4.
Avoid traps, even when invited to
participate, especially from sources that may want to dag you down the gutters
with them, by engaging you in interminable debates in which the main goal is to
be seen as the winner;
5.
Learn to use your silence wisely;
silence is also speech and a helpful discourse strategy;
6.
Do not be tempted to comment on every
issue, especially the ones that already have entrapment angles. Commenting on
every issue makes you vulnerable. Remain unpredictable in discourse. You are on
a slippery village square now.
7.
Above all, have it as a top priority
that your daily accomplishment does not depend on how much time others have
caused you to squander!
You
would recall that I put “free” on quotes above in talking about the Internet.
The Internet and its social media are NOT really free. They come with a bill
you must pay, somehow. First, that social media platform that pretends to be
free, to be about protecting your interest, is NOT. It is a means of studying
you, of profiling you, of knowing you more closely, of predicting you faultlessly
and scientifically. You are being watched. The idea that it is free is a trap
itself, a trap you cannot resist! One day, all the updates you have made, the
comments and reactions you have offered, would testify against you. Next time
when Facebook asks you, “What is on your mind” and you spill it, know that you
have submitted yourself! Nothing is free in this world. Things that are marked “free”
should arouse your suspicion!
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