From Global Village to Digital Bystanders: How Social Media is Rewriting Our Humanity
Toyyib Omowale, a news and current affairs analyst wrote this piece From Global Village to Digital Bystanders: How Social Media is Rewriting Our Humanity
They call the 21st century a global village. You no longer need to cross oceans to connect with someone on another continent the internet and smart devices have made it instant.
Social media, in its purest form, was created to close the gaps between us, to connect people beyond borders and cultures. And it worked. Once, our sources of information were limited to newspapers, radio, and television.
Today, those same platforms have evolved, embracing social media to extend their reach. In fact, some universities now offer accredited courses in social media under mass communication a sign of just how integral it has become.
But somewhere along the way, we’ve lost something essential.
Before social media, our strongest networks were physical ones our neighborhoods, our communities. You didn’t need to know someone to help them. If trouble arose, people stepped in. That was part of what defined us as Nigerians “we were our brother’s keeper.”
Today, the instinct to help has been replaced by the urge to record.
An argument in the street? Phones come out. A fire, an accident, a fight? We go live, zoom in, and document sometimes standing just meters away while events spiral into tragedy.
One man shared how he almost died in an auto crash. Trapped in his vehicle and struggling for breath, he could see people nearby. But instead of rushing to free him, they stayed at a distance, recording as if they were filming a scene for likes and retweets.
The recent clash between a passenger and a staff member aboard an Ibom Air flight could have been defused if more people had chosen to intervene. Instead, the phones came out. Everyone disembarked at their destination, leaving the confrontation to escalate and eventually go viral.
For what value?
For views. For engagement. For a few seconds of online relevance.
It’s heartbreaking that in the “global village,” we are more interested in broadcasting human suffering than preventing it. We have turned our dirty laundry into viral content and our shared humanity into background noise for online entertainment.
We can be better than this. The internet can connect us, but it’s our actions in the real world our willingness to step in, speak up, and help that truly define us.
Toyyib Omowale, News and current Affairs Journalist based in Yenagoa.
