So, there's an ongoing drama on the Nigeria Social Media space (there is always one of those anyway), involving a young man and a young woman. The young man alleged that he contacted a certain Nigerian girl with a large number of followers on Facebook to help promote his blog on her Facebook wall; however, the conversation, according to him, took a rather drastic turn from business discussion to a sex-chat. He released screenshots of the alleged conversation where the girl requested his nude picture in exchange for helping him promote his blog. The girl in question have also released her own version of the screenshots of the conversation, and they are way different from what the young man released, with no sexual requests whatsoever. Hmmmm...
I really don't know if I should hail the inventor of screen-grabbing or screen-munching facility on our phones, or maul him/her. It has become a tool for blackmail, extortion, cheap publicity, etc. I'm not here to judge who is lying or who's being honest in these situations, but to highlight the importance of being careful about things we sent to people via text or these messaging apps.
I don't even understand how someone would wake up and exchange nude pictures with people he/she doesn't know and is not intimate with or request for nude pictures from the same group of people. People get blackmailed by ex lovers, not to talk of social media 'sext partners'. I remember when a friend told me that a married man, whom I know, was asking her out and sent pictures of his penis. I was quite shocked back then, and wondered if the picture was supposed to get her more interested in dating him, but now I'm not shocked anymore. Sending nude pictures seem to be the order of the day now, as crazy as it sounds. Some even send them without you requesting for it, Silly! You'd be shocked that people keep messages and pictures from 7 years ago and are waiting for an opportunity to use it against you. I'm not a big fan of texting and chatting because what you text can and will be used against you in future, especially in this era when they can manipulate the chat to suit them by doctoring the content of the messages.
You really can't trust someone anymore. Private conversations find their way into the public domain for the purpose of ridiculing or shaming one party. I can only advise people to be mindful of the things they type and send to people, especially people who have nothing to lose if the contents of the chat were to come out. I'm the type that would read and delete a text or a chat once I'm done reading it. This might be bad though, because if the said lady in the scene above did the same, she would not have her own version of the chat to present and exculpate herself. If only adults would be adults and leave a private conversation in the private where it belongs, we would not be having this messy drama all the time.
We really all need to grow up! More importantly, be careful. That private text to a friend, a lover, a sexting partner, could become public tomorrow.
Peace!
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