Social media is a term used to collectively describe a set of tools that foster interaction, discussion and community, allowing people to build relationships and share information among other things.
Media is an instrument of communication, like a newspaper or a radio, television etc. Essentially social media would be a social instrument of communication. It is easy to confuse social media with social news because we often refer to members of the news as “the media.”
Adding to the mix is the fact that a social news site is also a social media site because it falls into that broader category. And while social news is social media, social networking and wikis are also social media. Few of such examples are Blogs (posting articles), Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter (networking), YouTube, Flickr, Instagram (photos & video) and so on and so forth.
Think of abuse, for some reasons politicians come to mind. They are one breed which has brutally been punished by social media. Mudslinging has got a new medium, and people are venting all their wrath and anger by blasting off tweet after tweet, mocking every aspect of these servants of society.
Sadly in recent times, especially in Nigeria, unqualified authors and social commentators abound with no modicum of dignity. Only with a mobile device or personal computer supported with internet facility, people now own ‘newsrooms’.
We all can spread news, pictures, stories, comments and reactions using our blogs and social media platforms. The downside is that more often, misguided and unethical practices replace the informed code of conduct that guides the noble media profession.
It is just too obvious that some people cannot handle with maturity, the freedom and limitless platform presented by digital media since there is no control or checks put in place.
These destructive ideas include contempt of religions, discrediting religions, provoking racial, communal, religious, ideological and regional commotion, spreading biased rumours, malignantly distorting facts, libelling, defamation, cursing, fabricating accusations as well as insults etc.
Similarly, internet abuse involves the use of the internet in an abusive manner. It consists of threats and harassment, viruses, spamming, port scanning, hacking, denial-of-service attack (DoS attack), and copyright infringement.
However, internet subscribers must learn to embrace call for paradigm shift to foster decency on the cyber space. If there are no defined regulations or checks put in place to stem the tide, internet users can also regulate themselves too, within the confines of propriety and maturity.
Ajibulu wrote from Abuja
Abuse of Social Media, A call for Caution, by Emmanuel Ajibulu
