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Our lives are now more than ever, embedded and intertwined with social media. We check our phones as the first thing after we open our eyes in the morning and also check on them, as the last thing before going to sleep. I too am guilty of this. We have turned dinner time into times where the Wi-Fi connection is at its peak to enable us to get into the groove of updates and lost of ‘things to do’ on our phones. We have meetings online – be it zoom or WhatsApp, we also communicate important work instructions and requests via WhatsApp.

Granted, the Covid-19 pandemic is somewhat to blame but there is an element of us overindulging on this. This past Friday, South Africa lost yet another iconic TV personality and producer in Shona Ferguson due to Covid-19 related complications after being admitted to hospital some time ago. One too many deaths that this dreaded monster is claiming daily, it’s so tragic to keep count of this trauma and the numbers that continue to climb daily. Families and friends are burying their loved ones weekly – condolences and #RIPs are now the order of the day. What an interesting place in our world we find ourselves at the moment. Praying for this nightmare to, one day, be a thing of the past.

But when is too much, really too much?

We now trust and refer to social media platforms for our news source and have completely done away with relying on credible news sources via reputable platforms like newspapers, radios and TV news. I for one still believe in and refer to traditional news platforms for credible news. This need of being on social media 24/7 creates and unnecessary pressure and rush to be ‘the first’. This I feel is the crux of the issue that’s contributing towards tearing us apart as a nation. We’ve lost our sense for humanity, somewhat.

On the Friday afternoon, following the sudden passing of Shona Ferguson, the stories which were doing the rounds on social media and on some platforms were disappointing to say the least. In African culture, death is considered as sacred and there must be extreme levels of care and respect applied when it comes to handling it. Unconfirmed tweets, statements and rumours were posted and made to that effect, without being confirmed first by the family as official correspondence. What disappoints me the most is how the family was not given enough time to process the unfortunate passing to be given time to communicate it appropriately with the public. Tweets were posted and shared, then later deleted – by various members of the society who included journalists, ordinary folk and entertainment reporters, who had prior access to the information and felt it their roles and duty to inform the public on this. Discussions on various radio platforms were held without the necessary supporting information from the family itself.

Where do we draw the line on this? Is there even a line to this? Must we make one?

When is this push ‘to be first to break the news‘ going to evolve into, a rather ‘be the first to report, with accuracy and facts as a matter of fact‘?

What benefit is there in being first to break such gut wrenching news to the public? Does it serve the benefit it’s intended to when one is the first to break such news to their followers, without confirmation and facts? Why do we stoop that low? What difference will it make to wait for the family to issue official correspondence even if it is a day later, and only then start having the discussion from then onwards?

We need to do better and not allow this social media hype and push for likes and retweets to obscure our normal judgement and most importantly, our need to be human in times like these. Let’s be better humans. Break the news first, with facts rather than with unconfirmed hearsay or reports. In that breath, I take this opportunity to send my heartfelt condolences to Shona Ferguson’s friends and family during this difficult time.