How social media exposes our hidden wickedness
Thalefang Charles | Friday May 16, 2014 16:52
One would not believe we belong to a nation that has aspirations of being labelled “Peaceful, Compassionate and Loving” just from reading the profanity we trade online daily.
As recent as last week, when we returned from the Easter holidays social media and Mmegi Online broke with the sad report of the missing Botswana Police Service helicopter.
It was reported that the helicopter, carrying a crew of three, was missing after it failed to arrive in Maun from Gumare. The police admitted being clueless on the chopper’s whereabouts and the condition of their colleagues on board. Police commissioner, Keabetswe Makgophe, even begged everyone to pray for his officers to be found safe.
Comments poured in as the story was trending in the leading social media networks, Facebook and Twitter.
However, most of the comments were not calling for prayers nor were they compassionate about the missing officers, as one would expect from Batswana in such a tragic situation.
Instead, some of the Facebook comments posted made shameless fun of the sad situation. Some comments were cheering and wishing for the worst to happen to the missing police officers.
“O kare ba ka tsamaela ruri di vacancy tsa bulega ra hirwa rona re batla go bereka and lona le batla gore batho ba boe ijaa!” (I wish they could go forever so that there be vacancies because we want employment) read one Facebook comment.
Another one wrote, “nna re bata madi eseng di helicopter. A e tsamae le malope” (we want money not helicopters, let it go with those sycophants).
Some posted even more inhumane comments such as this one from an Mmegi Online user who wrote, “O ka re go ka fithelwa e le direpa… lol” (wish they are found dead).
These were real Facebook users with real names and profiles that indicated that they were real human beings. And yet they were shamelessly posting such callous comments.
When the sad news of the helicopter crash and the fact that there were no survivors broke, many online users again extended their lack of empathy for the families instead celebrating the sad news.
One comment read, “E siame ba kile ba nkapa ka yone re tswa go zala dishwashwi ko cellcity..........*happy*” (They are fine, they once caught me). Another one quipped, “Ke go rata dilo” (it’s because they are too forward).
Even disappointing was a comment from a Facebook user who said the helicopter crash served the police right because they used to peep on them at initiation school in Mochudi. The user wrote, “ba seka tlhola bare okomela ga re rupa ko Mochudi, ba seka”. One would expect an initiated person to respect the values that are reportedly taught at these bush schools.
It would appear when they are online, even the so-called initiated ‘mature men and women’ act like naive children who ‘speak’ from their online personas from the comfort of their mobile phones and other devices.
Why do they act this way? Do we naively think online comments and actions are unreal? That the things we say and do on the Internet are not part of who we are? And this behaviour, even after Parliament passed the Electronics Bill seeking to regulate and make digital evidence permissible in court, persists. Most people act like the online/internet arena is an invincible universe.
Lulu Tlale, a practicing psychologist in Gaborone says the two facets that people display online and in real life settings, are both our true selves.
“It is because social media has provided a setting that allows people to say things they could not say in a proper social setting,” she said.
She said in real life social settings, one could see an immediate reaction on people faces and refrain from speaking their minds, unlike mere typed words where the response you get is online.
“When you are online, nothing stops you from saying all the nasty things that come to your mind. You do not see reactions on people’s faces and no one sees you. So people find their freedom when online,” said Tlale.
She added that the problem is not specifically a Botswana or African thing since anyone – no matter where they come from – displays two facets when online. Tlale said social media technology has a big role to play as it has changed how people interact.
She said: “People are exposing themselves more through social media by communicating things they would not normally do in a proper social setting.”
She added that even more bullies are using social media nowadays.
Social media technology has made people shout out their unguarded opinions in real time, she said. She added that this has also revealed the hidden bullies and wickedness in most people.