What does Robert Mugabe and Margaret van Wyk from Schweizer-Reneke have in common?
Both recently realised that social media has the power to change one’s life very suddenly in a spectacular way.
In Bob’s case, a preacher with a cellphone almost started a revolution in Zimbabwe and it took the police and army to get things under corrupt control again.
Margaret from Schweizer-Reneke, on the other hand, was not that lucky.
She’s currently the talk of the town and the country.
Why?
Well, this housewife thought it a good idea to spice up her marriage by sending her husband some virtual Viagra via WhatsApp.
But she made a big booboo.
Instead of sending it to hubby, a picture of her lady garden ended up being shared among a school hockey support group for parents, which she belongs to.
Immediately, even before she fell over and died from embarrassment, Margaret explained that she made a mistake and apologized to the shocked moms and obviously curious dads.
However, one of the moms took a screen crab of the picture and conversation that followed and posted it on Twitter.
In a matter of minutes Margaret’s delicious monster was running riot in the small North West Province town, and in only a few hours it was making a hashtag beeline across the country.
Hounded
Since then, because the earth refused to swallow her, Margaret has been hounded by magazines and radio stations to tell her side of the story.
But what’s there to tell?
Nothing, I’ll say, except that the person who took the screen grab should be made to go live in Zimbabwe.
Technology has made our lives very easy, but it must be used sensibly.
Twenty years ago Margaret would have had to get into an awkward position with a very large Pentax Asahi, only after she decided whether to use a 12 or 24 exposure film. Then. before mailing it at the post office, she still had to take it somewhere to develop.
This would have given her enough time to realise that what she’s about to do is not the greatest idea.
Instead, all it took was pressing two buttons – and boom!
Think before you post is the very valuable lesson we all need to learn from this.
Nowadays employers are increasingly using social media, especially Facebook, to get a clear picture of a prospective employee’s character.
Recently I have been told by two managers that they decided not to employ someone after a quick look at their personal pages revealed the real idiot behind the impeccable CV.
Although not even aware of it, social media changed those job seekers’ lives.
Political propaganda, swearing, obscenities and just being a total smuck are things which can cost you the job opportunity of a lifetime.
There’s a reason why something like Facebook is worth 350 billion US dollars.
That is 346 billion more than Zimbabwe’s annual budget.
It’s immensely powerful. It can start a war or even end one.
It can get you a job or make you lose your job.
It can even make you famous, like Dolly Parton, in an instant, with the push of a button.
Just ask Margaret van Wyk from Schweizer-Reneke.
Nobody would’ve known of her existence, or that of the town, if her finger didn’t slip.
