Social media can be a dangerous platform that makes or breaks

Social media is relentless, tread carefully.

There is so much sadness in the sudden death of Patrick Shai – an illustrious career is marred by such a tragic ending.

One could speculate that the cause of his death by suicide was because of the notorious posting of his boxing challenge to Cassper Nyovest, or that there were underlying mental issues.

Unverified history has it that his death resulting from pressure after calls were made for the “cancelling of Patrick Shai” became louder and louder. Be it as it may, it does bring to attention the treacherous nature of social media.

How many times has Helen Zille or Fikile Mbalula come under fire for tweets that have not sat well with all members of the public?

There is a power in social media that cannot be denied and because it cannot be denied, this must be acknowledged.

Remember the tweet of Yusuf Abramjee’s post bringing to light comments by Obatala Mcambi
that promoted the killing and sexual assault of Indian and white people?

ALSO READ: 5 reasons to audit your social media before it comes back to haunt you

Mcambi – I believe he was just looking for attention – thought no more than six people would see the post. But, boy, was he wrong.

And now the country as a whole has determined he is a silly little man with deep-rooted hatred issues. The list is endless of social media darlings we would never have known or heard of if it were not
for the share and like buttons on our timelines.

The very last thing anyone in the limelight wants is for social media to turn on them. Hell hath no fury like social media followers scorned. Whatever you do, do not upset the followers, they will end your career in a series of
tweets.

In real life, we all talk more than we should at times. But when asked about it, we can still deny, deny, deny.

With social media, once it’s out there, it’s out there. That is the power of screenshots and shares… People in government have lost their well-paying jobs because of their unintelligent rhetoric on social media.

What more of a deterrent do people need to stop using social media in a unreflective way? Social media makes or breaks… use it wisely