SM is social media; everybody needs to grow up here. A
seventy-year old quickly regresses when they have to poke, tweet or double-tap.
A ten-year old never matures beyond likes or lack thereof. These are the unsaid
rules of social media etiquette:
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Do not mix your circles if you have
split-personality.
Case in point: I am a leader in the mosque but a good dancer
at my friend’s bridal shower-clash! Can you imagine when my workmates catch
photos of me partying when I had called in sick, even if it was a surprise
party thrown for me?
Case in point: Ever met someone you know in detail but have
never physically interacted with? Have you heard of kidnap cases where
assailants tracked the victims through their Facebook posts? Have you been part
of relationships, fights, dates, parties that should have been left out of the
virtual space? Do not fall prey to the fake lifestyles of taking photos beside
people’s cars.
Case in point: The Bow-Wow Challenge, Morgan Heritage with
their fake crowds; these are just a few examples to note. Be ready to get a
call asking you to pull down the pics or else have a brawl over baby mommas
asserting parentage rights over baby photos. Some people need permission before
you post their photos while some may specify when the photos should be posted….
This is for the Khoikhoi (xaxa, xtian) and those irritating
words devised to make text-reading a pain. Swiping is a talent and denies the
excuse for wasting your school fees on non-universal abbreviations like ikr, h
r u, GOAT. One cannot tell if it is typos or a baby playing with your
keyboard-ask my spellchecker.
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Take time to read, look and listen
We are too eager to tell stories rather than listen. We hold
out of therapeutic conversations, at times as a form of emotional blackmail. We
forward job alerts, jokes, memes, religious texts without reading to verify the
intended message.
Case in point: Pressing send can feel like a room where
everyone tries to shout the loudest but no one listens. If the noise is too
loud, shut it off and focus on dialogues or discussions. It is okay to meet an
opposing opinion as long as no freedoms are infringed. Nonetheless, do not
depend on comments or emojis to validate popularity or to substitute real-time
interaction.
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No matter how modern we get
Posting nudes (full, semi or quadri) will never be
girl-power or a mark of feminism. Leaking sex tapes…I cannot even go there.
Good and bad still exist in the real world, so do not ignore them in the
virtual space.
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Doom and gloom comes with a sign
Case in point: You come across an accident scene and you
upload a photo. Nothing wrong, you think, I am just sharing a bad thing with
the world. What if 3 years down the line you get a photo of a corpse of a loved
one, in the same spirit of sharing? Graphic images should not be shared without
captioning a warning, request or consent to alert members.
In groups, things can get haywire. We should be aware that
conversations are between people not walls or timelines. How about a greeting before talking? Or
limiting dialogues unless you want to chip in? Or settling private matters in
public? If it gets heated, leave the group silently before starting any fights.
Cyberbullying is saying mean things to people that you would be too cowardly to
say upfront.
I know some people think God made social media to vent but
it will never replace prayer. When it comes to tackling tiffs, these are best
combated the old-fashioned way-straight up.
Case in point: I bet you know households where people are
arguing by virtue of their posts. There are religious texts quoted, blog
articles shared, photos with captions or songs with strong messages where
people are tagged. If you are unlucky, you come across those with no filters. They
name and shame, tsk tsk.
