Humanity on Social Media- OPINION SERIES

Hello Leafers! I hope your month has been going beautifully!

Today, we will be discussing humanity on social media. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (CNA) recently released a three-part article on the 15th of June, 2021, titled, “IT IS OBSCENE: A TRUE REFLECTION IN THREE PARTS”. In the third part, she expressed her utmost displeasure and dissatisfaction at the level of humanity on social media, especially on Twitter. If you have not seen the article, you can read it here

I had planned to talk about this on my blog and CNA’s article motivated me further. The truth is, we lack a reasonable amount of humanity on social media. As CNA rightly said:

There are many social-media-savvy people who are choking on sanctimony and lacking in compassion, who can fluidly pontificate on Twitter about kindness but are unable to actually show kindness. People whose social media lives are case studies in emotional aridity.

-Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

We see now that the same people who claim to preach kindness on their pages, lack kindness themselves. My friends and I often joke about how the streets of Twitter are slippery and how you can be insulted sometimes for no reason at all.

The venom that comes out of people when they reply to tweets is shocking. For me, it’s how they can think that far, I mean, how do you have this in your mind?! The scrutiny most people go through just before they post anything anywhere, (not just Twitter) is alarming! Why can’t we correct with kindness instead of being so falsely sanctimonious? As CNA’s rightly stated:

And so we have a generation of young people on social media so terrified of having the wrong opinions that they have robbed themselves of the opportunity to think and to learn and to grow. I have spoken to young people who tell me they are terrified to tweet anything, that they read and re-read their tweets because they fear they will be attacked by their own. The assumption of good faith is dead. What matters is not goodness but the appearance of goodness. We are no longer human beings. We are now angels jostling to out-angel one another. God help us. It is obscene.

-Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I have seen people leave WhatsApp and Instagram for similar reasons. Someone once said that a person could die tomorrow and we would all assume that they were out of data. Where is the love people?? Why can’t we reach out and resist the urge to assume? Even if a person is obvious out of line or ignorant, we can correct them with love.

Some pass comments in the guise of compliments but upon scrutiny come from a place of toxicity. I also feel that to a large extent, a large percentage of us need some form of psychological help. It’s common knowledge that our society is messed up (that’s a story for another day), some of us have come from challenging homes, work in toxic work spaces, are surrounded by frenemies and these things all affect us; knowingly or unknowingly. If not dealt with, we find that we pour that same toxicity on others.

As my friend said, “We all need therapy!” The truth is, for those who have faced one toxic experience, however minute, we need to deal with it and be satisfied from within. We need to learn to show ourselves love so that we can show others love; on social media and in our everyday lives.

It is also very important to understand that we will all have diverse and conflicting opinions on issues and it is okay for someone to disagree with you. However, this does not equate to insulting them or ridiculing them, or making it your mission in life to destroy their name. Not everyone will agree with you or support you and that’s fine. Cancel culture is not cool at all!

That will be all!

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