Page 98 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 13
P. 98
MY AFRIKA
Re- Education
What really is social about social
media?
I think my ever first time to sign
up on Facebook was in 2008 or
thereabout. And over the years
after that first signup, I have had to
delete about two or three Facebook
accounts for personal reasons.
At first, when Facebook appeared
on the scene, its major competitor
was MySpace and up until now, only
God knows what happened to that
platform. But I think I have read
somewhere that MySpace faded
out simply because the creators of
the social media ecosystem wanted
to make room for Facebook. How
true that is, I am not very sure. But
if you are paying attention to the
social media space, the competition
SOCIAL MEDIA somehow stopped being SOCIAL
among social media platforms has
or RESPONSIBLE but has become
Is It An Anti-Social Tool For Mind wicked and diabolic, to the point
where either bigger platforms buy
out the smaller ones or they use
Distortion And Manipulation? their selfish and wicked machiner-
ies to fade them out of business.
Samuel Phillips Meaning that the very foundation
of the term social media is steeped
in some form of wickedness and
manipulation. Anti-social media to
o you know that weird because today is not really judgment
feeling that creeps day, but a day to take a closer look say the least.
over you or peeps at what that feeling really is. Is the
Dout of a door in your feeling part of a series of planned Back to my first question about
mind when you expect likes and product responses by the creators the feelings you have when no one
comments after posting a very well of the ecosystem called social responds to your posts on social
thought out article, or a beautiful media, more especially now that the media platforms. Where does that
image you took of yourself during social media space has become a feeling come from and why have we
your vacation to some sweet place tool for herding humans towards a somehow allowed all these social
in Afrika on any of the social media very specific direction? Or is social media platforms determine what
platform especially Facebook or media really a social space that truly we see ourselves as and how we see
Instagram? That feeling that makes brings people together? ourselves? How did we abdicate our
you think or even believe that what true identity as humans and now
you posted did not get likes or No one singular answer to this, since begin to judge our very existence
comments simply because it’s not it’s individualistic in nature, but I and the beauty in our lives by how
good enough and thus, by extension, also believe that there are instances an algorithm treats our posts on
you tell yourself and even believe where we can have a generic answer social media. The influence of the
that YOU ARE NOT GOOD as to whether the social media space PRINCE OF THE POWER OF
ENOUGH? really is a social tool or a tool for THE AIR.
I am sure you have felt it and it’s ok manipulating minds and reality. There are those who think the con-
cept of spirituality as a true reality
98 | we tell the true afrikan story