Since the advent of Youtube (launched Feb 14, 2005) and social media in the early 2000s, which has revolutionized how people make money with its formula of more views and subscribers = more money, society has ceased to be the same. There is a gradual evolution of a humanity that has lost the consciousness of privacy, confidentiality, integrity, moral responsibility, fraternal charity, and love. The greatest threat today seems to be “I will post it on the social media for the world to see.” Many, as I write, are going through untold emotional trauma because of this or similar threats. We live in a generation in which confidential information is a stock in trade for YouTubers, Vloggers, Bloggers, etc.. The ubiquity of smartphones has made these problems almost uncontrollable as everyone wants to sell classified information on their page, channel, or profile to gain more views and subscribers which eventually translates to more money. The underlying philosophy is, be the first to share.
Money is the root of all this evil; either from those who threaten others to pay them directly or face social stigma on social media, or those who use such information to increase their income by attracting more views.
Our generation and the society we live in is beginning to frighten me. The social media that is created to help us connect with each other and share information to help keep everyone on track, has become for many a tool for revenge and inordinate desire for material gains. There used to be a time in the history of humanity when two offended parties would come together to resolve their differences, but today the world has to hear it first on social media before any attempt at reconciliation is made. There used to be a time when we would protect the privacy of others and avoid divulging personal information because of fraternal love. But today we sell such information to make money. Where is the humanity in us? Are we growing together in love and respect as humans or becoming animals without emotions and conscience ?
The Internet is spying on us. Mobile applications on Google Playstore and Appstore are gathering our personal data in the background. The Internet of things (IoT’s) gadgets are constantly remotely watching us. Companies are selling our information for commercial purposes. Aren’t you getting unsolicited mails? Politicians are digging out archival misdemeanors to silence their opponents, especially now when elections are around the corner. As if all these aren’t enough, they also have an agenda (Digital Identity 2020) to inject a vaccine that contains a microchip to control and monitor us, aren’t they kidding?
We too are spying on each other. Young couples, people planning to get married, or in relationships install hidden apps on their partner’s phone to intercept messages and record voice conversations or track his or her location, isn’t this insane? What do we need this private information for? To destroy the other perhaps.
Access and identity management policies (IAM) has become the industry’s best practice for securely managing authentication and authorizations, such as, who gains access to what and who is authorized to do or change what, yet the insider threat is the worst cybercrime attack. How have we all come to this point? I am having some nostalgic feelings of my childhood days when there were no phones to torment us and no social media weapons to betray each other. I weep for our generation and pray for us. Our collective consciousness of evil is becoming delusional. Our love for each other is becoming suspicious. We have devalued the quality of love for money. Everyone is becoming conscious of cameras and phones before they speak or act. Warnings are issued about recording things in certain gatherings, yet the enemies are using sophisticated gadgets to record whatever they desire. Are confidential or closed-door management meetings still confidential? Have we not seen videos or voice recordings of such meetings on social media? We often say the only secret is the one in the mind, but they also want to use artificial intelligence to read our minds and turn us into robots. Where are we heading to?
I may not posit a solution to this evil that is looming large and overtaking the moral consciousness of this generation, but I have this to say. Do not feast on others as vultures feast on dead bodies. There are genuine ways to make money online other than betraying and gossiping about others. Create videos that are very instructive and entertaining and people will subscribe to your channel. Resolve your differences privately and amicably. Leave the social media out of it. Do not forget the golden rule: Do not do to others what you wouldn’t want them to do to you. If you don’t want your confidential or private affairs to go viral, desist from posting the private affairs of others. If you value your reputation, respect the reputation of others.
Every viral video has a point of origin. It begins with a single share and gradually multiplies over time, like a virus. If you are the origin of such damaging content, have the courage to erase it from your device. Let us share things that will change our society for good, and transform our collective consciousness to treat each other respectfully, and not do what traumatizes, dehumanizes, and destroys others. View, Like, and share only what edifies. This is a collective war we must fight until we regain our collective freedom, privacy, and confidentiality. May God come to our help.
