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a month ago I shared on “Things for Life and not Life for things”. The focus of
that piece hinged on life coming first before things. It buttressed the fact that technological gadgets are
made by us and for us and not us for them. Hence we should not let them be the
parameters with which we define and measure life. Rather, we are to make them
serve us and not the other way round.
This piece will build on “Things
for Life and not Life for things” and take it a bit further, make it a bit specific and more practical. Some
of the issues I will raise here may not sit down well with you because they are
purely my sentiments and for that, I apologize.
I have two very inquisitive and curious cousins, both
of them are teenagers. Whenever I am come around, I am sure of Q & As
sessions on barrage of issues. Well, sometimes in the first quarter of this
year, the youngest had his Facebook account and oh, it became an achievement of
the century for him. He once told me, “Uncle, do you see my picture? I will
post it on Facebook and get plenty likes and comments. Make sure you like and comment on my picture”.
He may just be an innocent teenager craving for approval and recognition, but
what he said sent me on a deliberate observation on how young people engage the
social media and what they make out of it.
A bit of Statistics…
Emarsys published
that in 2019, billion people use social media worldwide and that is 45% of
the world population at that time; and Facebook has 2.32 billion monthly users
making it the one with the highest users. According to Internet World Stats, in
the first quarter of 2020, Nigeria had 27, 120, 000 Facebook users, the highest
in Africa. This comes with ample opportunities if the platform is properly
utilized and challenges as well.
You and the Social Media…
It is
amazing how our world is wrapped up in technology, how distance has collapsed
and geographical differences have vanished, all converging to make the world a
global village. Facebook popularly known as the blue and white app has become a
crucial part of its users especially the youths. Indubitably, it is wide,
engaging, and provides an array of opportunities for connecting and networking;
but if not guarded, it eats deep into a person’s life.
I did talked about a lady who said being without phone
make her sick in “Things for Life and not Life for things”. Her
experience is just a keyhole that ushers us into the full view of the “social
media-centric” life ravaging our youths. It only showed how most young people
out there have come to depend largely on technology and social media to define
them, approve them and validate them. For some, the social media is an
extension of who they are, hence they cannot function effectively without it/them.
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me make this clear less I get misunderstood. There is nothing wrong with being
on social media. In fact, it is exciting to be on the social media because it
gives you the freedom to air your views and sentiments and they get to meet
significant number of people. The benefits of the social media are enormous,
all you need is to make them serve you meaningfully. It is only an issue when
you tie your sense of personhood to it/them. It only becomes worrisome when you
define and determine your relevance, efficacy, and impact by the number of
likes, comments, shares and all sort of feedback or cheap popularity.
It
is rather sad and pathetic how the aforementioned have become the reality of
most of our youths engaging the social media. Myles Munroe (God bless his soul)
captured this reality for me beautifully when he called our time a ‘mentally retarded world’. He said: “We exaggerate
our accomplishments, pretend to be more than we are, hide behind false images
of ourselves, and believe our reputations more than our true characters. Are we
sane?” Every bit of Munroe’s words reflect our reality as often portrayed on
the virtual world.
The
bane of our generation compared to the earliest generations is that: youths of
the 21st century tend to know more about social media than the
social menaces invading them. We are blessed with sophisticated technologies,
leading to interconnectedness with barrage of information at our finger tips. Sadly,
we are doing a great job under-utilizing same for our immediate good and that
of our society.
Permit
me to now ask, how will you describe your relationship with the various social media
platforms you are engaging? Are they the parameters defining you, determining
for you what is relevant or not? Do you depend on the likes, the comments and
all the reactions to validate your sense of personhood? Do you feel less of a
person whenever you are not seeing life from their lenses? Truth is they can
only give you vague and virtual definition of who you are.
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of emphasis again; social media is good, great and are suitable tools to make
life in the 21st century more meaningful. This should be the icing of
this piece: “beyond posting nice quotes and beautiful pictures, your impact
ought to be modeled in the lives you touch and inspire purposefully in your immediate
environment”.
Employ
the social media, engage purposefully, enlarge your value-minded network circle,
and make it serve you in fulfilling purpose and touching lives. Let it be a
means to an end and not the end itself. Never forget that you were, you are and
will still be without it/them, to depend on them for approval or validation is
an error. Your life is far more valuable.
Please be free to leave your comments
References
- https://emarsys.com/learn/blog/top-5-social-media-predictions-2019/
- www.internetworldstats.com/stats1.htm
Apt Sir!
ReplyDeleteA very thought provoking post!
ReplyDeleteTrue validation is not gotten we afrom whore on social media.