By Abdullahi Jamaa
Everybody is smart, honest and handsome in social media. We are all generous, down-to-earth people and we appear godly. We need to bring ourselves back to reality because there is no way we can be perfect in every sense.
Allah is perfect and great; we are flawed and weak. In social media we hide ourselves behind impressive posts that make us appear more of a saint than an average human being. How long can we keep on cheating ourselves?
There is an ongoing competition, an endless dyke of fantasy and an acclamation for fame. The self-cheat routine evident in the cyberspace overshadows our existence as responsible people. Are we stooping so low to pretend what we are not?
Just as a raw hide gives off a bad smell if it stays wet for long, so our neglected self-respect dwindles. This is so because of our sharp tongues and aberrant behaviour in social media. We should be ashamed of ourselves.
It seems everybody developed ‘I know it all attitude’. With absolute democratic freedom to post about anything on our minds, our brain gauge is seemingly missing the on and off fuses for critical thinking. Respect for self and for others is thus a bygone.
Social media is psychologically abrasive, its FOMO results in quick unthoughtful posts and remarks that tend to damage our personality in a way so destructive not just to ourselves but also to others.
We are looking down on people in self-actualization craze that is not so real. The face we put online is different from that in real-life. There is a big difference between personality online and personality offline.
In between, we emerge as people who have changed and transformed but in reality we are humans in moments of transcendence and wild in moments of frustrations. Social media has become a platform to showcase our happiness and vent our anger- in extreme emotional scenarios.
No one is safe from the fitnah of social media that has taken over our homes and institutions. The magnitude of our sins in form of harmful posts and comments is huge, mounting and compounding hour by hour.
There are those of us who seek name and fame on one side of the blogosphere; and there are many others who are washing their dirty linens in public. In the end we publicise ours sins and weaknesses of which Allah has hidden for us because of his mercy.
We have failed to be honest with ourselves. So, shameless attack-dogs and sycophants who may know us outside the social media arena appear on the feeds as trolls, attacking our integrity even as we try to appear smart and knowledgeable.
Losing respect and becoming shame-proof is as easy as drinking a glass of water. It’s also a cry of shame the way majority of us are corrupting our minds and hearts cheaply as we try to force people to love, like, follow and appreciate us in these platforms.
And truth has long been thrown out of the window. Negative contents and rumour generate strong reactions and emotions. False and fallacies create a sudden surge in popularity. The catch here is how much half-baked stories can one post.
We are either not safe from unprofessional bloggers, extortionists whistle blowers and keyboard activists who have taken for granted spreading of false contents sometimes against people who cannot defend themselves .
Professional bloggers, journalists and writers have taken a back seat. People who have no experience on new media and digital communication or who have no knowledge, skills and understanding have taken over the blogosphere.
When we put up a post on Facebook, a tweet on Twitter or a story on Instagram we are communicating to a larger audience who deserve our respect, honesty and decency, but many times we share things that we cannot utter in real life situations.
Indecent memes let us get in on the joke of insults, attacking personalities instead of issues and creating variations without giving a critical thought. With our shamelessness, many platforms are tools for intimidation and blackmail.
We need to get out of this hellish online presence. Let’s us redeem our respect with a surety that whatever we post or whenever we comment we are on top of ourselves, well aware of our actions and knowing that we are accountable for whatever we share online.
With honesty, civilised decency and professionalism we will have meaningful discussions that have all the hallmark of a progressive society. Without these we will ever remain insensitive to ourselves with regret and shame.
And Allah says in the glorious Quran “O you who believe! Let not a group scoff at another group, it may be that the latter are better than the former. Nor let (some) women scoff at other women, it may be that the latter are better than the former. Nor defame one another, nor insult one another by nicknames. How bad is it to insult one’s brother after having Faith” (al-Hujuraat 49:11)
