I like to view social media as a world of its own. It's interesting really how we could live digitally and in reality simultaneously. In recent times, I'd say the advent of social media is the closest we can come to the theory of the alternate or parallel universe. Such that most times, we see things manifest on social media, and we become a part of something big and get actively involved while residing anywhere in the world without moving an inch from our comfort.
However, as interesting and exciting as it is to be part of social media platforms, it's not without its pros and cons. Well, why won't it? It is run by humans after all and we all have our intentions on which we would like to influence the general public. It is on this ground that we have diverse opinions and different groups plus classes of people turning social media into a global village.
Amongst these groups of bodies, we have the most paramount team such as the political team which encompasses every aspect of humanity as no one is left out. One way or the other either by electoral campaigns, sharing political opinions and debates, we all are involved. Again, while some individuals use it for political praise singing, others have come to utilise it as a medium to project their voice airing their grievances and disappointment on the happenings in the country.
Recently, I came on Facebook to see a popular skit-maker in my country by the name of Zic Alomo cry about how poorly he and his sister were treated by the management of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). According to Zic, his mother has stage 4 cancer and has been undergoing chemotherapy sessions in a privately owned hospital. Unfortunately, instead of her situation getting better, it got worse and the hospital had to refer them to LUTH being that it's a government hospital and as such expected to not just have more capable practitioners but also facilities.
Sadly, when they rushed their mother to LUTH under such critical conditions, they only granted them access to the lab to run some tests after which they were asked to wait outside the hospital premises for the test results to be ready before the mother could be admitted. It was such a horrible sight to behold watching the video he shared on Facebook and seeing him cry for help outside the hospital premises in the dark. It is even more heart-wrenching that the medical practitioners who swore to save lives are being evasive. But if there's one thing that the organisations in my country understand is orders from above (government), a trick that many people have mastered to have their way in situations of helplessness. Zic knew this trick and as a social media influencer, he leveraged on his platform smartly when he shared that video of his predicament.
It didn't take up to 24 hours but that video got to various government officials in top offices who called the Chief Medical Director of LUTH to sort things out. In Zic's next video, it was an appreciation to everyone for their support and encouragement informing us that his mother has been stabilized and currently undergoing treatment.
The power of social media. You know it's very easy for politicians to be negligent, it's also easy for certain people who are at the peak of power in their various establishments to misbehave and trample on the masses to feed their fragile egos. Thanks to social media, there has been some equal-level playing field for individuals from all walks of life.
Another scenario where Social media has been used as a tool to coerce politicians to do the needful was when a National Youth Service Corp Member (NYSC) called out the current government for failing to act on the mandate for which they were voted.
For quite a while now, the minimum wage has increased from Thirty thousand Naira to Seventy thousand Naira. While it was a thing of joy, in reality, we saw various governments struggle to meet up with the new minimum wage payment. Even the Federal government was not left out as the allowance of NYSC members remained at Thirty-Three Thousand Naira as against reflecting the new payment of Seventy Seven Thousand.
It took the rant of the newly recruited NYSC member complaining bitterly on TikTok about how the meagre sum is not sustaining for the government to honour their policy of minimum wage increment.
In all, thanks to social media we now have easy access to relate our grievances to the politicians of our country. Not just that but it's also quite fulfilling seeing them act with the speed of light to rectify any issues raised via social media.
As I said earlier, Social media is a global village and everyone is watching. In the eyes of the public, nobody wants to appear incompetent and social media over the years has kept these politicians on their toes to do the needful in most cases.