By Chris Ihidero
They are everywhere. Wherever you turn, they lie in wait: in holes and corners, in cracks and crevices; lurking and ready to pounce. They operate by no code of conduct, except that which glorifies their exaggerated sense of importance while disguising their apparent impotence. Bearing rodent-like characteristics, they crawl from their rat-holes and nibble at their unsuspecting victims under the guise of anonymity, diving back into non-existence at the slightest sign of recognition. They soon re-emerge though, donning a different garb, yet their selfsame stench can be perceived from afar by any discerning mind.
They are everywhere. They are on Linda Ikeji’s blog, theNETng, Nairaland, Notjustok, BellaNaija, Questionmarkmag, 360nobs… everywhere. Cyberspace is gradually being taken over by vermin! Their victims are often people who have attempted to do something with their lives and in the process achieved success, however relative. Their success is their crime and it makes them easy targets. Because what they do puts them in the public space, they are open to all kinds of inanities thrown at them just because they are popular.
Have you read the comments section of any of these blogs and websites lately? Have you gone through pictures taken at an event on, let’s say, Bellanaija.com or Linda Ikeji’s blog? Are you shocked at how hurtful a huge chunk of the comments are? Have you gone to listen to a new song or see a new music video on Notjustok.com or 360nobs.com only to see personal attacks disguised as informed opinion? Have you read just about anything on Nairaland.com and come away with the feeling that surely, life sucks for a lot of people? Every single time I visit the comments section of any of these sites and see the magnitude of insults being hauled at singers, musicians, actors, radio OAPs, producers, television presenters and other celebrities, I come to a conclusion: the internet has birthed a new kind of vermin; humans with listless lives dragging their amputated souls across cyberspace and contaminating everything on their path.
Before you conclude that I am one of those who find it hard to have a laugh or appreciate sarcasm, please note that my main problem is not that people get on the internet and say nasty things about celebrities. Much as I believe that we should endeavour to act in a civil manner as much as possible at all times and on whatever platform, I am not naive enough to think that people get on the internet only to say nice things to people whose status and lifestyles they have probably longed for all their lives. I have often held that when you are a celebrity (and I am using the word in very general terms here) you naturally open yourself to sticks and stones from everywhere; it comes with the package. What I find utterly ridiculous is that people will choose to smear others anonymously. If you want to say someone looks like a whale in that dress, go ahead and say so if that’s how far your soul has evolved. But don’t say it anonymously or under a pseudonym; to do so is to deny the person you have maligned the opportunity for a rejoinder. If he/she has access to your identity, it becomes easy to respond to you in kind, if he/she chooses to do so. You should not hide under the cover the internet provides and say someone looks like a toad in that dress when in actual fact you are drop-dead ugly.
It amazes me to see some of these people celebrate their insensitivity openly without restraint. I have often read on some of these blogs and websites where people say stuff like: ‘Ah, see o they are now dressing better! It’s because we bash them o! LMAO!’ or ‘Nigerian music is getting more serious because we are showing these stupid musicians how real music must be done.’ When I read comments like these, I picture the people behind them as rodents who have bitten a bit of flesh off someone’s toes and dragged the bit back into a rat-hole, laughing as they gnaw at the flesh. Transfer the imagery to someone with a sad life sitting in front of a computer having a laugh as he/she types and dispatches insults all over cyber space. Sad indeed.
If they that leave nasty comments are being silly, what do we say of the operators of these blogs and websites? I particularly find some sections of Nairaland, Linda Ikeji’s blog, theNETng, Questionmarkmag, NotjustOk and Bellanaija most culpable in this regard. It seems to me, and I may be wrong here, that they allow the tirade on their platforms because nastiness drives traffic and traffic drives advertisement, which drives revenue for the operators. If this is a wrong assertion, it’s probably best then to assume that the pull of popularity that a blog or website enjoys immediately it becomes a platform for spiteful commentary, is too strong for the operators to resist. Is it impossible to moderate these comments along the lines of decency? I will not be the one to advocate for the allowance of only comments that sing the greatness of celebrities; I believe that comments should be free and open to all. However, if cyber-bullying occurs constantly on your platform and you do nothing about it, should it not be said then that you share a sameness of purpose with the perpetrators?
Rod Liddle and Jeremy Clarkson are my favourite columnists in any newspaper and I visit their blogs and websites that carry their articles daily. They are both perhaps the most sarcastic columnists in the British print media; and that is saying a lot for a media that’s globally recognised as terribly sarcastic. Rod Liddle is even often referred to as the enfant terrible of the British press. Both of them call people names, use swear words and are unafraid to speak their minds, no matter who their subjects are. However, they do so knowing that there is room for whoever they may have maligned to have a go at them too as their identities are unhidden. This, I believe, is fair. This, I believe, is the path of honour that we all should tread, lest our humanity be weighed and we are found grossly inadequate.
*Ihidero is a Lagos-based writer and Filmmaker.
12 comments
This article is so ‘On point’!
Hmm. I don’t know, Chris. While I agree to a large extent with the spirit of this article. I have some misgivings and objections.
First, I think grouping this act under the term ‘cyber-bullying’ is according it more power than it actually has. These commentators have no social clout, per se, and, like you pointed out, if anyone opens themselves up to the public they should expect- and prepare for- some form of attack. Not everyone will like you or want what’s good for you. That’s a fact of life.
Also, because of the reasons above, I don’t subscribe to the idea of censorship in any social media, in any form, especially in this society. And, when we demand that these blogs be moderated along the lines of ‘decency’ we simply hand the bullying baton to other people. It doesn’t matter if they own the blog or not, they are still human with personal biases.
I also am in support of the issue of anonymity and I’ll tell you why using the example of the aforesaid ‘terribly sarcastic’ Jeremy Clarkson, who gave Piers Morgan the ,now famous, scar on the head over some article that showed him (Clarkson) in an unfavourable light. There’s no telling what these ‘rodents’ will do if the celebrity in question fights back in kind (or vice versa). And at the same time, if these people are already seen as vermin, isn’t that punishment enough?
The internet, I call it the ‘halloween mask of anonymity’. You nailed it. Good job.
Hmmm. Interesting. But when comments are open its hard to manage and be objective at the same time. I’ve seen it happen on social media too. I guess its up to the forward minded peeps (on those blogs) to call-out useless comments and ranting. Nice article though!
Brilliant post. Well said. Actually I know one of such ‘anonymous’ posters on 1 of the blogs u mentioned. Fat, rich, works for dad, nolovelife…scouring through blogs to perpetrate acts of lowlifeness towards people who are better than her whole moneymissroad family put together. It’s their high, their sugarrush. Can this be stopped? No, can moderation be put in place by the authors of these blogs? Yes..but they’ll argue they don’t want to cut off freedom of speech.
Vicious cycle.
Lovely article. All readers should be mindful of their comments.
Lovely piece I must say. This article aptly captures my thoughts too. In short u simply took the word right out of my mouth. Sometimes I think some of these readers are at a race to see who’ll spill the most bile.
I recently went for star quest audition and many of the contestants lacked talent but I won’t be surprise if those talentless ones make up the bulk of nairaland members that write nonsense about Nigerian artists.
For someone to consistently come online to spew shit about people, something is desperately wrong with dat person. But what can be done? Like sometimes when Linda tries censoring comments on her blog, readers complain it takes away from the “essence”. Whatever dat means.
You have no point at all. What you are crying over is prevalent all over the world. I will blame you for short sightedness. Please, always look beyond your little horizon.Have you monitored/read several comments on CNN, Yahoo, Telegraph, Talksport and many more foreign blogs? You get the same thing.
For this quote of yours ‘however, if cyber-bullying occurs constantly on your platform and you do nothing about it, should it not be said then that you share a sameness of purpose with the perpetrators?’
It makes no sense and i dont need to say more than that.
It is only 234next (Silly News website) that I know you will never have a constructive comment on their website which they will not make public.
I agree with @Haha and what standards are you even operating under? What happened to Freedom of ‘speech’? If you can post this article, people should be able to comment on whatever they want to.
Although some commentators on these blogs go to the extreme,we can’t dispute their are truth in what they say. For instance the writer example above, “Nigerian music is getting more serious because we are showing these stupid musicians how real music must be done.’ ” maybe stupid was a wrong word to use but their was a time when Nigeria Musician use to release junks and crap music and expect Nigerians to support then by buying it. Remember ‘Ayagba guy are Dangerous’ just to mention one. Ruggerman came out to clean up the Rap section of our music industry, before then Idris was giving us shit and nobody complain,who is better for it? Nigeria Music Industry,Who is making the huge money and signing huge endorsment? The musician,bcos their music are getting better and almost up to International standard. Criticism only make artiste better act and music.
Hi all, thanks for your comments.
I usually do not react to comments on my articles but I will make an exception this time.
@Mary Ero: Thanks for your comments; very thoughtful.I particularly enjoyed the take on transferring the bullying baton to the blog operators who, naturally, have their personal biases. This got me thinking and I agree with you largely. However, are we sure that what is currently going on is not their bias towards the celebrities? To have them smeared for their own benefit, whatever that may be? I agree with you that the lines of ‘decency’ are hard to maintain and censorship may happen, but I’d rather risk that than have a platform that allows for the glorification of idiocy disguised as criticism. My personal bias.
On anonymity: I am aware of the Clarkson/Morgan incident. Lol. It’s why Clarkson is banned from Morgan’s new gig on CNN. I still hold that anonymity is cowardly. I had written that PMAN article anonymously, I would have denied the persons mentioned in it the opportunity to have a go at me. I’m sure that before Efe and Tony Okoroji wrote their rejoinders they did some research on me…that, I believe, is fair. If the artiste that has been maligned feels aggrieved enough, he/she should have a fair chance to have a go at the person who felt it appropriate to smear him/her.
@Sola Kuti: Yes. I have read your site many times and I do not often find insulting comments there. It is hard, but we shouldn’t let that which is wrong become the norm because the alternative is hard to do, I think.
People are becoming truly pesky these days. Do you think the weather has got anything to do with it?