Living In A Social Media Age

(This is a long read, I'll advise you to grab a cold bottle of water, take a chair and seat down).

Do you post controversial stuff just for likes, shares and retweets? Do you find yourself sharing content which could be videos, quotes and images that contradict your beliefs and values? Do you share derogatory remarks on social media posts of people you disagree with to mock them publicly? Do you find yourself posting not-so-commendable content to make yourself look good to people whose respect you crave or to gather attention? Do you seek any chance online to get the attention you are deprived of?

I have to admit that the reasons why we do what we do are endless and social media has become like a perfect hideaway and a dumping location for junks of all kinds. I need you to carefully read this post, understand my perspective and see if it is worth taking seriously, when you do, it can drive you to do an audit. If not, you can still stand your ground and choose to do what is right, given that ethical standards cannot save us anymore because people now seek and crave status, respect and esteem from others, and social media gives them an avenue to do that as they like.

Thinking honestly about the engagements I have made on social media - my moral compass has been the ground zero for the particular things I share and post online, and I have consistently gotten honest feedback that makes me know if I am doing something right or wrong. Take a moment, consider your conversation style, assess your feedback loop, and reflect on what you say, how you say it and most importantly, why you say it surprisingly, you may find out that most of our conversation is not about being genuinely interested in communicating and connecting with another fellow human but to score points hence the cancel culture.

Social media itself seems to accelerate the ills as well as the good (Like Ying and Yang), cycles of morally corrupted individuals that can quickly spiral their followership and engagement in less than 24 hours. Some are less than 12 – 18 hours creating an echo chamber of like-minded individuals.

An example is when a religious figure makes a grand gesture with sincere and deeply held values and ends it with a prayer, and some folks tramps his words and mock his use of language, and a social media influencer, campaigner or political figure makes a bold - rash -untrue - ideologically claim, they get the applause of the public as many praise them for not been lily-livered and for being a voice for the voiceless.

The culture has encouraged online and virtual interaction and communication so our conversations are all-encompassing of our deepest fears, beliefs, morals, values, and human endeavours and with all of these talks here and there, we are not hitting the nail on the head, hardly are we even ruffling any feather, but barely scratching the surface while the real issues go undisclosed, undiscussed, unaddressed and unabated.?

Usually, when people engage in a face-to-face conversation, they are ready to connect, learn from or persuade someone else without resulting in bad-mouthing, cussing, defamation or worse, violence. They might talk harshly or rudely for many right reasons and it usually ends with a truce and minds enlightened, but if it was an online conversation, this may not be the case, and this makes it worse because the person who is on the receiving end cannot see the face of whoever is perpetuating this inhumanity and someone leaves dissatisfied and demoralized.

Every conversation is a means to an end - an avenue for a free exchange of ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and principles and for this to be two-sided, the other party has to be open-minded and vulnerable enough to know that they do not know everything. We all desire to be loved, cared for, to be safe, belong, to be respected, and these traits are inherent in every human and can be traced to prehistoric times, and conversing with this is a prerequisite for connecting (physical or online) to help us reach this goal. Look around you today, the more interactions we have, the farther people are detached from truly connecting.

I am not saying that if someone taunts their beliefs and virtues either physically or virtually that they are morally superior to you or that you are not virtuous enough - I am just calling your attention as to why you do the things you do especially on social media.

When the natural human desire for clout leads people to seek status in unreasonable or silly ways, it seems to me that something is wrong and this can only draw us far apart than bring us closer.

You can back me up when I say people troll others in guise and animosity and the result always causes and effects which can cause the rise of many being morally put-down and dissatisfied, however, sharing nice quotes and encouraging words will not magically fix the problem, but putting out the fire completely would lead conversations in a more productive direction and create a saner clime for the million users on social media.

We live in a world that lives contrary to the truth which means we live in a world of different groups of people living in different worlds, populated with utterly different facts, religions, ideologies and having different daily experiences, and when I think about it, I am not so worried about what people hear or say, they are mostly products of influence, I am worried about whom they believe and trust which happens to be the heart of the issue. This is the crux of the matter in which I intend to poke a needle and release the bad gas that has gathered like a storm, waiting to happen.

Seeking the approval of others is one thing, seeking the interest of the online community is another, and seeking to create value and share that value with the world is another, but whatever you do, make sure that your words are garnished with grace, building up rather than tearing anyone down. Let your actions be worthy of emulation, and be responsible for your words because your words are your bond and can represent you whenever you are not there. Every post you make leaves a digital footprint and can be referenced in many years to come and as an advocate for the future, it is best to share and post things you, your family, children and your generation can be proud of.?

Progress is an ongoing process and the race to be better humans has no finish line, but if you decide to start today, you will have made a difference, and posterity will thank you for it.

Stay Defiant In The Truth You Have Come To Know.

Raymond "RayBaba" Oluwalola,

Ogbomoso, Nigeria.