Social Media: a blessing or a curse??

Someone like me might not survive without Social Media, seriously! I feel like I'm in darkness if I can't access the Internet. I don't know what I did with my time and my life before Internet came to naija. I know a lot of people also feel this way. However, with recent happenings especially in Nigeria, I have come to see social media as more of a curse than a blessing to us.

See, the best part of social media for me is the connection, meeting new people, interacting, exchanging healthy views and opinions. Some friends I hadn't seen in decades, I reconnected with via Social Media; I have made new friends, some I may meet, some I may never meet, but the way we gist and tease, you'd think we've known one another for years. That's the beauty of Social Media. People's businesses have also thrived with the advent of Social Media. It provides platform for free advertisement and wide reach.

Then there's the downside; thanks to Social Media and the Internet, everybody is a journalist, reporting all sorts, ranging from the silly to the completely bizarre. From sweet to the most gross, you will find it on Social Media. The cyberspace is filled with a lot of lies and propaganda it makes me wonder where such stories originate from.

The latest mob action in Kano State, Nigeria that resulted in the death of a woman has generated a lot of stories. I have seen gory images of different human heads and different bodies purportedly belonging to the late woman. Even when her husband categorically stated that his wife wasn't beheaded as was being circulated, the Social Media 'investigators' still say the man was instructed to say that his wife was not beheaded!, see me see wahala, is it their beheading??? At a point, I stopped arguing with some people, because they seem to revel in their ignorance and have blatantly refused to consider any other option that is not what they want to hear. 

I keep telling people, never believe everything you read on Social Media!! 60% are false. Verify information before you aid the perpetrators by spreading their fake gist. Buying things on Instagram?? O.Y.O is your case o! Do that to your own detriment. Countless people have been duped by these co-called sellers, thereby giving a bad name to the genuine business men and women that sell their wares on the various platforms. 

I wish I could leave Social Media, but like the junkie that I am, I'm hooked, but I won't stop warning people: never believe everything you read on Social Media. Try as much as possible to use the platforms for good, don't be the one to spread fake unconfirmed rumours. Engage meaningfully, respect other people's opinion, know that we all need to live in the world and that whatever we create, we live with.

Hugs...