Love, likes and toxicity

Friday, January 16, 2026 | 10 Views |

Entertainment?: Hundreds of eyes tune into see the violence and vulgarity. In doing so, they reward and encourage more of the same behaviour PIC: NKAFU.ORG

They go live almost instinctively as if reaching for the phone is part of the argument itself. Within minutes, Facebook timelines across Botswana light up, hundreds of thousands watching the insults. Conflict and violence become entertainment. SHARON MATHALA argues that the couple is a mirror of society’s own fascination with the material

By the end of it, the video will have crossed over millions of views and by our local standards that is truly platinum viewership. The exchanges are brutal and the insults fly freely, at times the arguments unfold with a child visible in the background as we react in real time.

Some viewers plead with them to stop, others urge them on and many take sides. The videos trend precisely because they are raw, there is no script, no editing, no filter and what is on display is not performance in the traditional sense but emotional exposure, messy, uncomfortable and addictive.

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