Decades ago, the conventional media {Television/Radio, Newspaper and magazine} took the lead role in dissemination of information, appraised by its ability and capacity to get in touch with wide range of heterogeneous audience. It's ability is quite magnificent to the extent it was quoted to have possessed the power of a hypodermic needle also known has magic bullet theory. The basis and assumption of this theory is that almighty media is capable of influencing people's behaviour and attitude, directing them to act in way that goes in line with the objective of the media, you can say the media is capable of mind control. Such was the power attributed to the conventional media until the advent of social media.
An innovation brought by advancement in technology, a product of the internet. Social media has taken the world by surprise through the rate of its assimilation by the masses. Becoming a global phenomenon that has impacted the cognitive understanding of the masses about the existence and Significance of the existing media that has ruled supreme over the years. Social media gained more acceptance due to its flexibility in convening information without going through gatekeeping process an attribute which is most sacred to the conventional media.
The power of the social media is less influenced by the governing bodies of a state compared to the conventional media, that is why over the years some states have tried to put some restrictions on the use of social media. Due to the capacity of the social media it has created career opportunities for people now known has social media influencers. People who have gained recognition and attention among their peers to the extent their words and actions penetrates the minds of many. They take time to talk about contemporary topics and trends, issues of significance that matters to the people. You could call them opinion leaders because they contribute to opinion formation of the masses and they have a say on opinion polls of different matters.
This individuals have grown in numbers over the years, it could be a celebrity or someone with a large fan base. Though some celebrities just live their lives without paying attention to the amount of influence they have on the minds of their fans while others have recognised the potentials of nursing the career of being a social media influencer, they go all the way to promoting brands, product and lifestyles, paid for ofcourse. majority of them are driven by money and public recognition only a few of them care about public responsibility.
Looking at how much influence they have on people, it would be nice if that energy is directed at what matters, not that I'm saying what they are doing doesn't count, we are all trying to make a living including them but there are matters they speak nonchalantly of which end up having a devastating effects on the listeners. Example of such matters is issues of marriages, relationship and process of divorce. Seeing the rate of divorce in our society it doesn't seem like most of their advice on that topic is doing us any good. That aside, Words are mightier than sword, which is the basis of the strength of social media influencers.
There is a term widely known among social media users which is known as Cancel culture. The act of intentionally shunning a group of people or a person on social media which was birthed as a result of the outstanding capabilities of social media in influencing the decision of the masses. Over the years social media has been used as a tool to target selected individuals. There are times when social media was used to fight against societal ills or atrocities committed by governmental agencies but then it also does it opposite for instance there was a video that circulated recently involving a social media Influencer named Saida. In this video she shared her opinion about what it takes for a man to be in a relationship with her and how such man could prove his love to her. Though are perspective was more about materialism, I guess that is what she believes in but what comes next was surprising.
It turns out that a lot of social media users ranging from tiktok, Instagram, twitter{x} disagreed with are perspective which led to her account being banned from tiktok, Instagram e.t.c I also watched the video and to an extent I disagreed with everything she said but then that didn't prompt me to take any actions against her like reporting her account or engaging in hate speech.
It is not as if I'm condoning her attitude but I believe we are all entitled to our opinion. The rate at which she was targeted begs the question, does it really has to with what she said in the video or something else? This is not the first time this has happened though it might seem like banning her from social media is the best thing to do because she altered outrageous statements but I have also witnessed individuals who were shunned on social media for speaking the truth. From my experience, I consider this act of cancel culture to be social media bullying because I strongly believe that people should not be gunned down from social media just because they said something that doesn't conform with the perspective of others.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled "Cancel culture" in hive learners community.
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