Of the Social Media and Maturity

 It is another Friday and for some reason this week we have an article. As we acknowledge that this is a Friday, we should also go on to remind ourselves that this is the social media infested 21st century. This is the age of the social media and the social media has things called trends. Those will form the backbone of the discussion today.

Although I understand its negative effects, I like the social media. I have a feeling that it is possible to read through the lives of most people through their social media posts and interactions. There might be some whose lives you may not be able to figure out despite their presence on social media, but for most people of interest, it is pretty easy to get a gist of what they are all about from just looking at the waist bead-like chain of WhatsApp updates that they post on a daily basis. On the other hand, there are those general trends that people get taken up with. When it is the time for a trend, you see it from a whole lot of people regardless of who and what they are. 

That brings us to the current trend that for some reason some have been finding annoying lately; the “pena ngati” thing. Hundreds of you might have seen it, but for the sake of those who haven’t, here it is. WhatsApp Malawi has been awash with posts beginning with the phrase “pena ngati”, which is something that seeks to express intention; something that could be translated to “sometimes I just feel like….” These are usually followed by a statement that indicates the intention to perform some drastic action due to a state of desperation. While this was a common trend among the people who are considered meme lords and ladies, most people have joined the bandwagon. The result was somewhat expected. Others have expressed their annoyance over current trend. 

Last weekend, the world mourned the passing of Chadwick Boseman, of the Black Panther fame. He passed on after succumbing to colon cancer which he had been battling for 4 years through which he starred in a lot of good movies. Taking it from the fact that he starred as the Black Panther, a black superhero, he was greatly revered by Africans and it was not so surprising to see a lot of people posting tributes on different social media outlets. If I were asked to estimate, 6 out of 10 of my friends posted either a picture, text or video of Boseman, expressing how sad they were at the loss of the icon. Not all these were benign, though as some people went into overkill and expressed how the deceased was like a brother to them. That is a story for another day but following the tributes some expressed their unhappiness over the fact that tributes were pouring in for an American actor when our very own Anyoni of the Pa Majiga fame went with little if any tributes. The people who complained are probably the same ones who make noise when Juventus plays Paris Saint Germain while they have no idea of what it feels like to watch Tigers play Nchalo United. Let’s park this and pick it up later. 

I have spotted a new trend on Facebook and people are calling it the Secondary School Challenge. The challenge is very simple actually. You write the words “Secondary School Challenge” then go on to mention the secondary school you were at. Some have wondered as to whether something that simple should be called a challenge, the same was said when ladies decided that they were going to challenge themselves with posting grayscale (kapena tinene kuti black and white) pictures of themselves and when men started nominating each other to a 25-pushups for 25 days challenge. For some reason, some people just did not find all those challenging and they decided to call out the people who were participating. We will park this too. For now. 

Our country happens to be one with religious people. For some reason, I don’t like public discussions about religion because very few people look at religion with an objective eye. A friend of mine made a very controversial post about why members of a certain Pentecostal church always post pictures of their pastors on social media. That reminded me of how I had seen some people framing and hanging pictures of their pastors at home, the motive of which I did not understand. Then I remembered that there always is a palm branch hanging in my house from the liturgical year’s Palm Sunday and I only take it down after I bring in a fresh one and I realized that a palm branch on the wall of someone’s living room may not make sense to someone either. I realized that not all things are meant to make sense to all people. That may be the reason that I restrain myself from commenting on issues of faith save for when atheists are involved. Those I gladly argue with provided they are objective enough. 

To the issue of the day. 

The social media setting came to stay and we need to live with it and so are trends. Memers will lead us in posting some trends and you should all be assured that when this pena ngati frenzy dies down, something else will come up. The number of people who join the bandwagon in posting that will determine how long it will take for people to get irritated and then it will die down. The cycle will continue. That is how the modern-day world is structured and the sooner we accept that it is that way, the better. 

At some point, someone will cook some food and upload it on Instagram and tell you all how he is a good bachelor in the kitchen. Someone on your friend list will take a photo of her KFC wings or sea food from some fancy hotel so you must learn to not have an opinion or to keep it to yourself, because in as much as it may look immature to you, it may mean something else to someone. You might say that it does not concern you and thus you should not see it. I am pretty sure that social media applications have made provisions for you not to see updates from specific people, and once you see that their content is immature or does not resonate with your thoughts, those are the times to employ the unfollow and mute buttons. Block, even. 

Church-goers will continue to post how it is a feast day for a saint and others will post how many hours they are into their 36 hour fasting challenge. You may hate to see it, but it shouldn’t be a reason for calling anyone out. And yes, some will post pictures of their pastors on their social media handles including making them their profile pictures. Very acceptable, so long as they don’t stick such pictures on your jacket or hang them in your living room.  People will post about their political affiliations, what they are selling, about their relationships, the alcohol they are drinking, the work they do and the friends they have. They will go further and show you their bundles of joy and the German machines they push around. Never use people’s posts to gauge how mature, spiritual, affluent or how educated they are. This is the social media and while you can read some things, it is easy to be misled. More importantly, do not vex or call people out based on what they post. Well. Actually you may, but only if you know how to (story for another day). You get my point, anyway. 

So what was the point of all this? We are different people. Let us learn to embrace diversity and stop unnecessary conversations about things that otherwise do not directly affect us. 

Of course enanunso mukumaonjeza kupanga post zopepera so do not be surprised when people call you out.

This article in two words? Osamapangirana zochita.