A piece written by Reno Omokri, Special Assistant to President Jonathan on New Media
Social Media and the technologies that drive it were intended
to be a force for social good that expanded the individual's reach
beyond his physical proximity. However, over the years since the
emergence of the medium many of its users are beginning to see a
negative side of its use amongst young people which must be addressed
otherwise it will lead to an erosion of core societal values.
As
a youth and young adult, many of those in my age bracket learnt the art
of reading people's non verbal communications or body language by
practicing whole body listening and it helped us grow from self
awareness to awareness of others and from self management to
relationship management. But today, many young adults are unable to
develop these vital skills because more of their communication are done
over social media.
Youths have learnt the art of reading the keypads of
an iPhone or blackberry device without looking at it and can even
Instant Message a friend while driving without looking at the keypad.
The non verbal language they read meanings to are emoticons.
Psychologists
have written that a youth's social and emotional maturity derives from
physical contact and conversation he or she has with everyone he
encounters in the course of growing up. We are told that these
interactions even help shape brain development and stimulates the parts
of the brain that regulates empathy and morality. The less of these
kinds of interactions they have the less their ability to empathize.
And
so, gradually, our children and young adults are losing the art of
relating and gaining the skill of communicating. Relationships teach the
growing child how to empathize-that is to understand and share the
feelings of another person. Since one on one relationships are giving
way to social communications via devices that don't require physical
proximity, many young persons are growing to be adept at written
communication skills and are missing out on other levels of
communications that help them empathize with the other person.
I
never knew the level of this problem until this year. Even though the
Social Media age has led to a massive reduction in attention span such
that what happened yesterday is old news, some people may still remember
that some high profile public figures had health scares this year.
First,
Major General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd), a former military Head of State
had to go on an extended medical trip to Europe sometime in 2013.
Everybody is subject to ill health. It is part of being human. But
imagine my surprise when young persons on Social Media who were on the
other side of the political divide from that to which the General
subscribes to began to celebrate his ill health and wishing him the
worst. I was appalled. I know that politics is war by other means, but
even in war you don't attack the sick. The Geneva convention expressly
makes it a war crime to attack a hospital or any place where people are
being treated.
I wondered to myself, where is
our humanity? I have never liked Muhammadu Buhari's brand of politics,
but I am able to separate him from his politics and I respect him for
the consistently loyal following he is able to command in certain parts
of the country. He is first and foremost a human being and Jesus taught
us that we do not have to like our neighbour but we do have to love them
and to love a neighbour is to wish for them what you wish for
yourself.
And then in November of 2013
President Goodluck Jonathan was slightly indisposed while attending the
Honorary International Investors Council in London and the presidency
very proactively informed Nigerians and gave them up to date information
on the president's state of health.
And this
time, those on the other political divide unleashed their arsenal.
Without a shred of sympathy for the humanity of the president, a certain
website known for the most sensational headlines went to town with
obvious lies about the president. Egged on by certain ex government
officials who themselves have been recipients of the president's empathy
when they suffered recent loss, some young persons took to social media
platforms to disparage the president even wishing him the worst.
And
then some weeks ago, the news of the proposed bill to jail those who
libeled others and incited the public on social media for seven years
was at the fore front of the media. The reaction to this proposed bill
on social media was an indication that the medium is in dire need of a
moral compass.
By virtue of the position I
hold, I was the recipient of the angst of many opposition leaning young
people. They accused me and the presidency of attempting to muzzle
opposition via a bill they considered as draconian. Articles disparaging
the federal government were written within the space of a few hours of
the bill coming to light and no indecent word was spared.
But
after it came to light that the bill which they considered obnoxious
was in actual fact the brain child of an All Progressive Congress
senator, Olugbenga Kaka, these same youths switched and maintained
social media silence. Their criticism ceased and their anger was
stifled. Very soon, the issue died a natural death. It became obvious
that these opposition leaning youths, egged on by those who have come to
be known as 'overlords' thought they had a potent political weapon
against the ruling party and when the issue backfired their hypocrisy
was exposed. They have no moral compass and cannot be counted upon to
resist injustice no matter who perpetrates it. Their ethics are
situational and depends on who is involved.
After
watching these scenarios unfold and countless others, it became clear
to me that many young people are clueless about how to interact with a
flesh and blood human though they are proficient in the art of
communicating with a digital person they cannot physically see, feel and
touch.
In the military, soldiers are taught
how to dehumanize the enemy so that they can fight them. They are taught
not to see them as human, but to see them as the enemy, the villain,
the reason you are in the trench rather than at home with friends and
family. It is this dehumanization that gives many a soldier the Dutch
courage to do to opposing soldiers what they would never have thought
themselves capable of doing.
I think that
Social Media, especially in the hands of unscrupulous politicians has
succeeded in dehumanizing public figures to many of our youths so that
they see those on a political divide other than the one they support in
perhaps the same way as they see a target in a video game such as Mortal
Combat.
Why else would some young persons
join an obviously bitter man in mocking a man who is praying to his God
or erupt in choreographed celebration over the news that a governor has
been involved in a car crash?
So, what is the solution to this loss of empathy and a moral compass that is festering amongst our youth on Social Media?
I
think it is time for responsible adults who command any considerable
following on Social Media to use whatever influence they have to
introduce ethics into their use of Social Media. This will have a
pyramid effect. If young people see that their celebrities as well as
political and cultural icons are guided by a code of ethics which
restrains them and keeps them from engaging in actions that are
repugnant to the morals they had while growing up in the real world, the
ripple effect would eventually reach them and in time lead to a
paradigm shift that curbs some of these behaviors I have just described.
So,
what would this ethical code be? As one who has read from both The Holy
Bible and The Qur'an, I propose that we begin with a principle that
both books teach.
In Matthew 7:12,
Jesus introduced the famous Golden Rule "do to others what you would
have them do to you". In one of the most well known hadiths of prophet
Mohammed (SAW) he said “None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for
his brother what he wishes for himself”.
I suggest that this Golden Rule should be imbibed by all celebrities as well as Political and Cultural icons on Social Media.
And how would it work?
Life
on earth is a duality. In most cases, you are faced with an either or
situation. For instance, you either supported President Goodluck
Jonathan in the last presidential election in 2011 or you supported
another candidate.
So, let's say for instance
that you supported candidate Buhari. In that case, what you don't wish
for Buhari, don't wish it for President Goodluck Jonathan and vice versa
for those who supported candidate President Jonathan.
For
further example, you don't have to wish for the success of the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP if you support the All Progressive Congress, APC,
however, you do have to restrain yourself from celebrating say an
unfortunate accident that befell a governor just because he is PDP and
you are APC.
Let's shift away from the politics
of bitterness in favour of the politics of betterness. Let's discard
our arsenal of insults and abusive words in favour of an arsenal of
ideas and strategies.
If those at the top of
the pyramid can check themselves along these guidelines, Social Media
can become once again the force for social good that it was designed to
be and empathy and a moral compass can once more thrive amongst our
young people as it did when some of us were ourselves young adults.
The
youth are the Vanguard of our future and if you as a celebrity or
political/cultural icon don't feel the need to help cleanse social media
of this malaise, it could be your turn tomorrow. Nobody knows tomorrow, so you do not have to wait until it happens to you before you take corrective action.
As
for those elders who stoke such divisive and inhuman tendencies on
social media, they may choose to continue feeding the habit of hatred
and bitterness, but as has been said time and again, hatred and
bitterness are futile for the same reason that it is futile to consume
poison and hope that it will kill your enemy. By the time they realize
how much damage they have done to their reputation it will be too late.
Let us hope however that these drowning men do not take gullible youths
down with them even as discerning youths know that they never courted
them when the going was good for them politically.
Regards,
Reno Omokri
