HAS social media destroyed our morals and Ubuntu?
This was the main question on Wednesday afternoon when scores of witnesses in Harare jostled to catch a glimpse of a city building, which caught fire.
The incident occurred along Cameron Street when the Callans Building caught fire.
Goods, worth thousands of dollars, were destroyed in the inferno.
There was chaos as some motorists diverted routes in fear of the flames and smoke.
At Callans Building, there was a commotion as employees were desperate to salvage their belongings.
Instead of helping occupants in the building salvage their belongings, or extinguish the fire, the witnesses were desperate to take pictures and videos.
This has become a common theme whenever chaos breaks out.
People are now so obsessed with social media that they can no longer lend a hand to those in need.
The obsession is just something else.
This was the case at Callans Building where occupants needed help yet witnesses were busy taking pictures and videos.
One wonders where they wanted to use the videos or pictures of the inferno.
It was also shocking to note that some motorists could be seen taking videos and pictures while driving.
The rogue motorists put passengers’ lives at risk.
Such cases have also become a common thing at fatal road accident scenes where people jostle to take pictures instead of helping the injured.
This was the case at the late Garry Mapanzure’s accident scene in Masvingo.
The excitement, which comes with taking videos and pictures of dying people, is quite shocking.
One wonders where people get this excitement of taking such gory images, which they will share on their social media handles.
All it needs, when it comes to accidents and other incidents, is a little helping hand and this can make a huge difference between life and death.
We have even seen videos of women and men being butchered, in cases of domestic violence, with no one offering help.
We have seen big crowds gathering to watch the free drama with no one offering a helping hand.
Instead of helping or restraining the feuding parties, people will be busy taking photos and videos to share on their social media handles.
While sharing such information on social media can help expose perpetrators, offering help in such circumstances can save a life.
The sad reality is that not all people are comfortable with viewing gory scenes like accidents, dying people, and violent scenes.
Some people take a long time to heal when they come across such scenes.
Friends and relatives of such victims are easily affected each time they come across these scenes.
As such, we should always be considerate when taking and posting such ugly scenes.
Social media is not everything and we should not lose our morals and values for the love of social media attention.