IMPORTANT: Things to ask yourself before hitting the 'Share' button on social media
The last week has taught us many things, one of those things is that fake and unreliable news can be damaging to our country and all that we have worked towards...
We have come out of last week with a lot of learnings, appreciation, and reflection. But one of the things that we have noticed is that with the benefits of social media, comes the detriments of social media.
Many people want to become influencers, some just want to push users to click on the share or retweet buttons so that their pages get lit up and they go viral, thereby gaining more followers and becoming popular.
After we saw things like #PhoenixMassacre and #Indians trending last week on Twitter, accompanied by #KZNShutdown, we have been feeling a bit overwhelmed with the way social media is being used. It can firmly be said that many people are using social media to insight violence, anger, and bring about more unrest than peace.
Of course, this isn't new, groundbreaking information. The truth is that since its inception, social media has both presented benefits and detriments to society. But as of late, due to the hurt and pain that many South Africans have had to endure, we want to encourage you to practice using social media responsibly.
When it comes to following a guideline and practicing a respectable social media etiquette, we received this very simple and effective road map of questions that help you decide whether you should be sharing content or not. It is important that you also use your ability to read the room when it comes to sharing content.
If you know that it may be taken the wrong way, then don't share it. If it doesn't feel right, then it's probably not safe to share. Social media is meant to inform and update, its primary focus was to allow friends to keep in touch instantaneously. Not to create mobs, or for bulling or any form of hate and violence.
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