The dark side of social media

Why is the world quick to blame social media for the evil that men do?

Just the other day, I was watching the news on television when I saw a report about the anti-immigrant demonstrations currently going on in Germany. The story goes that two immigrants, a Syrian and an Iraqi were responsible for the death of a 35yrs old German. As a result of this, a popular right wing German political party used their Facebook page to call on their followers to demonstrate their displeasure. Since the demonstrations began, there has been an outpouring of sentiments both from the government of Germany condemning the actions of the demonstrators and from the far right groups praising and encouraging the actions of the protesters.
Following the report, there was mention of how social media played a role in the escalation of tensions in this demonstration. They even came up with a slogan for it called "THE DARK SIDE OF SOCIAL MEDIA". As if to say social media is to blame for the actions- -of the demonstrators.

Not withstanding, the report went ahead to explain that hate groups use these platforms to spread the message of hate and that these platforms enable these hate groups.

IS IT FAIR TO BLAME SOCIAL MEDIA FOR THE EVIL INHERENT IN THE HEART OF MEN?

Social media platforms were created to help man connect with and share moments and experiences with other people. So far, it is succeeding in this endeavor. Social media has allowed us to connect with people in a way humanity hasn't experienced before.

So why the attempt to villainize social media. The true villain is the heart of men.

My father once told me that when you open up yourself to people, you meet both the good and bad once. Social media isn't exempt from that for within it you can find both good and bad people.

Yes, I agree with the school of thought that suggests that these platforms should clamp down on the pages that promote hate and shut them down but we must understand that social media platforms-
don't instigate hate rather they respond to those pages by shutting them down.

It is absolutely wrong to blame social media for the nature of man. An old Asian proverb says and I quote "every man has two beasts inside them, the good and the bad beast, the one that grows is the one you feed the most". Social media can't be blamed for doing the feeding. It can only be help responsible for giving voice to the beast that you feed the most. If you promote hate or if you are a bully then social media platforms have the responsibility to mute you.

It is also right to point out that social media platforms also has a positive impact on peoples lives. Many have found love on these platforms, others have found jobs and many earn a living on platforms like steemit. A while back in Nigeria, the platforms was used to organize a protest called occupy Nigeria, the protest forced the government of the day to roll back unfavorable policies they imposed on the people. So its not all bad.
So before we all march in the streets in protest to condemn social media for enabling hate and ask the governments to regulate it and eventually call for the eradication of social media platforms, please remember the following-

"IF YOU ARE PRE-DISPOSED TO A PARTICULAR POINT OF VIEW, YOU ARE MOST LIKELY TO ACT ON IT IF PRESENTED WITH AN OPPORTUNITY. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR ACTIONS AND DECISIONS. DONT BLAME SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS FOR RESPECTING YOUR RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND FOR GIVING YOU A VOICE".