My Dear Arewa TikTok User -By Adnan Abdullahi Adam

For more than a year, two female TikTok influencers Aisha Zaki and Suddenly trade unprintable insults on each other in what appears to be a natural feminine jealousy and struggle for supremacy. The unfolding event occurs when a viral video shows some female assailants get into Suddenly’s room beating her black and blue. Like it had been seen some females are beating their victim, while she is crying out ‘mama’ pleading for any helper in sight.

It is said the initial trigger of the fight it is as a result of heated rivalry which metamorphoses into ‘battle of supremacy’ and both Influencers are competing to show the other who held sway as they are followed by hundred thousand followers on TikTok, a video-sharing site. People who follow the incident said the precursor of the brawl is that Suddenly looks down on Aisha Zaki who works in Saudi Arabia.

Later on, Aisha Zaki who releases a new video audaciously praising those carried out the beatings saying the humiliations which her rival was subjected to is ‘just the beginning, more humiliation awaits upon her in the days to come’. Though modernity and globalization permeate almost every household in the world, wonders of all wonders both female hailed from northern Nigerian city of Kano.

It widely known that most Arewa female TikTok users engage in entertaining followers with erotic dances or selling ‘Kayan Mata’ products which contrary to their societal values. This news has cast people in wildest imaginations as online platform turns into physical assault and battery which appeared to be sponsored by a northern Muslim Hausa lady against her rival friend.

In a similar incident, a young man posts a blunt criticism on his social media page, accusing one powerful politician for failing to pay fees for repairing a transformer or use his influence to get new one from the government. This young man complained bitterly their neighborhood spent four months in total power cut, while the powerful politician enjoys twenty-four hour electricity coupled with every luxury at the expense of the poor majority living in the same neighborhood.

By the time this young man’s comment went viral which is regarded as an abuse against this political father figure, his supporters went on rampage brandishing machetes, clubs and knives wanting to punish the young man for abusing their benefactor. If not by begging and pleadings of the neighbors, some angry supporters even attempt to cross over the wall of the house in order to attack him.

It takes great efforts by the young man’s family to give him cover from the assailants, while some elderly people intervened by pleading the big politician to have mercy upon him, saying he is “young and inexperienced”. In effect, the bloodshed was averted by the Division Police Officer who mediated by bringing young man to sign an affidavit and the big politician refrained from taking legal or illegal action against the young man.

This is a clear example of on how technology affects our social life. When a technology solves problems it creates a new problem that needed to be solved by creating another technology, for is a cyclical process. For instant, ICT provides vital opportunities to receive and disseminate information easily and cheaply in a real time manner, but also creates a room to spread fake news, cyber bullying, hate speeches, cyber frauds among other vices which changed our social life tremendously.

There is saying that says “You are what you post”. It is reflection of your personality, attitudes the pattern of your thinking. It samples and sum up who you are and how you react to the events around you even in the real world. To many people write inconsiderately on anything and about everything revealing their sub-conscious mind and their repressed feelings. That is why some firms in Europe and America evaluate who will be employed based on their activities on social media.

Many do not bother to engage in critical self-observation and self-evaluations to assess what they suppose to share on social platforms and its possible repercussion either negative or positive. And some develop false conception of reality, as they show the life of affluence and they became too much self-obsessed of what they wear or how they look like.

For most female they upload their beauties and fineries, which in reality convey what they do not have. “You would not look like the girl in the magazine, even the girl in the magazine does not look exactly like the girl in the magazine”. Image made by the media glamorously which editing, make-up and Photoshop effects which is contrary with the real life.

Another important point youth should learn to strike a balance between freedom of expression and libel and disinformation or misinformation. Media literacy is critical an average person does not read news vertically which is to be able to know verifiable source and the bogus one. In this era, there are hundred beautifully designed news websites sponsored by particular interest groups launched with the intent of spreading fake news and misleading information.

Information is no longer a scare commodity, there is even what is called “information overload”, where there is more than you can take, you could not exhaust all texts, images, videos in your entire life. No government can control influx of information even the mighty communist states of China and North Korea, Cuba fail to take down some websites that spread information against the system of their government.

ICT as a vast issue today, people should learn how to use social media effectively, and make informed and responsible comments on things which affect their life, While education and entertainment. The advent of easy access to information comes with fake news, misrepresentation, partially truth, omission and commission, cyber fraud, cyber attack, hate speech, cyber bullying and many vices which fan the ember of conflict. Social media takes too much of our time in what is appeared to be trivial and non-issue affairs mostly by Arewa Female TikTok users.

Adam a freelance journalist, writer and translator from Ungogo Local Govt. Kano

E-mail: adnanadam37@gmail.com
Twitter:@realadnantweet
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