There are a lot of things happening online these days. It's as if everyone is watching and looking for the slightest opportunity to drag people, maybe to promote content or get an audience, but seriously, I have never found it interesting for a moment.
I don't know if I am the only one noticing this or not, but social media fights are on the increase these days. People will have problems, and instead of tackling them privately, they will bring them online.
Most celebrities are guilty of this. What's wrong with quietly looking for a way out that social media has to be involved?
There are situations that require public intervention, but it's not everything. One of the bad things social media fights cause is to create hatred for people, whether they are innocent or not.
Someone can just bump into a post, and because the person who made the post has won a soft spot in their heart, they can blindly believe what the person did and hate for no reason.
That's how social media judges things; most people don't take the time to do their own research on things; they just listen to one or two influential people, and they will believe them ignorantly.
Of course, social media justice also has enormous advantages, but sometimes the judgement isn't fair either.
I have seen people unfollow people simply because they heard certain things about the person.
I came across a post from Burna Boy, one of the popular musicians in Nigeria. He was bitter about millions of his followers leaving him because he converted to another religion.
I don't know why those people left, but I think that kind of judgment was harsh. People have choices. Because they no longer believe what we believe doesn't mean they are not human; it's their choice, and it doesn't make sense to withdraw our support just to punish them.
Am I saying social media always judges wrongly? The answer is “no.” But sometimes I feel the judgment used to be too harsh.
Just before one apologizes, if care is not taken, their account would be reported, and within a short while, it may be suspended or banned.
The truth is, we don't even need to take the law into our hands, even in the online community. If someone is wrong, I believe the platforms have policies that address those things; let the legal authorities handle the matter.
I don't really like the idea of the community taking the law into their hands and judging people.
It's just so bad that sometimes when things are left to the authorities, manipulation and other forms of corruption set in. Probably this is why the community always takes things into their hands and renders punishment without mercy.
Whatever way it happens, we should learn to respect the law. If someone offends another, whether the person used to be evil or not. The community should not go about writing them off, and even if it wants to punish the person, proper procedures should be followed.