Stop this Hatred Against Caroline Mutoko.
Life would never have been this better without internet,
and more importantly social media. Today, almost everyone is completely connected
and has a chance to create and share platforms with the world or, so to say,
with people who share common interests. With the internet, we have a medium that
allows us to social network and spice up our lives, which could be otherwise so
miserable. While we are happy with social networking, it is important to ask
ourselves the question whether we are willing to be the same person, online as offline,
or whether we want to have two personalities; online and offline. It is a kind
of a dilemma, since it is hard to be fake (being someone you are not), or
having to share each and every aspect of one’s life, even private, on social media.
It is therefore a personal choice to choose what kind of a person they want to
be online. If one feels comfortable sharing their true selves with the whole world
or to be less open, it is wise to do so knowing that there are risks associated
with each, and not forgetting that we are officially living in the ERA OF ONLINE
INTERGRITY. It is
also important to note that the people one chooses to connect with become
automatically part of your personal life, and this impacts one’s life, either
positively or negatively and hence a need to balance real life experiences and
virtual experiences.
Some of the risks associated with social networking include hacking, which may cause great trouble. One may be accused of identity theft, or
end up sending the wrong message to the wrong person. Just think of nude videos
doing round on your page, and your boss or a person you do not necessarily
share social interests sees it! By tagging, clicking and connecting with friends,
you are also putting their security and life at stake since the hacker may
steal sensitive information such as passwords, date of birth, name, location etc. and use them to create an alternate identity. The
hackers can then use this information to create fake social security cards,
driver’s licenses and ID cards. You sure do not want to be a victim of identity
theft! That is why you need to manage your privacy settings in order to secure your
account against those who want to reap where they never sowed.
Putting up
pictures and videos on social media could make them be used for defamation.
Girls’ photos are often subject to being photo-shopped and used in not so good ways.
Babies photos are not spared neither; a woman was shocked to receive a call
from a friend in another country congratulating her after seeing her son’s
image on a billboard, yet she wasn’t aware neither did she know the company
that had used her child’s photo! Today there are thousands of cases of cyber bullying,
be it from students intimidating their teachers to friendships gone sour.
This is the case that has befallen our own self made Queen of Radio, Caroline Mutoko,
who has since Saturday had it rough with her fans, after they felt insulted by
her referring of people who post insults on her page as ‘average idlers’, and
giving them terms and conditions that govern her Facebook page. Caroline had
every right to take responsibility of her platform, and I applaud her for doing so since it shows great maturity. But what followed that was a bit unlike her; she went
ahead to exchange words with her fan base, most of who were ranting all kinds
of hate speech about her. This is what ‘rattled the snake’ and anti -Caroline’s
Facebook pages were born; RIP Caroline Mutoko,Kenyans against Caroline Mutuko’s
nonsense and teenage attitude etc. and still counting. As we are talking, these
pages have attracted over 20,000 fans! Caroline hasn’t reacted to any of these pages,
and she has even deleted the concerned posts and activated her settings to bar
people from posting on her wall.
I do not know Caroline at a personal level, but I know
she is one wonderful woman and her mission on radio is for a great and noble cause.
In May this year, she was interviewed by CNN in ‘African Voices’ and she talked
about empowering the African Woman and girl child.
I have heard her interview victims of violence (mostly
battered women and children) and fundraise for people in need during disasters
or those who cannot pay their hospital bills. What saddens me today is that
most of her haters, now calling themselves ‘Idler’s Camp’ are women! The same
women whose rights and fate she holds and fights so dearly. On the other hand, media
personality Maina Kageni, an all-time ladies’ favorite, is known for posting
messages against women, yet they never insult him, because unlike Caroline, he
enjoys playing in the mud with his fans. No doubt in Kenya, women are their
own worst enemies and explain why we never have enough women leaders.
Today, her personal brand and the image of Radio Africa,
the company she works for is at stake. The Brand Caroline Mutoko has gone viral,
and for sure it is going to have an impact , a huge one, on her.
I know it is hard to control what happens on social media,
and there are limitations while selecting or accepting friends/fans, but I
think this is an important point to consider. It could be that her fans are
young people who do not care about morality.
As a woman, I strongly condemn thos insults being directed to Caroline; she may have been wrong in the choice of her words, but she
doesn’t deserve such mistreatment from us,especially women.Noone should judge her unless they
know her well.
Let us learn to use social media as a medium for thoughts,
words and expression, by not making social networking become a social
dysfunction that portrays our moral decadences.
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