The Case Study of Pamela Chisumpa and Social Media Heroes
Topsy Sikalinda writes….
To begin my article and thoughts, allow me to mention that I support the notion that weapons of mass destruction must not be allowed to be wrong hands. Social media is a weapon of mass destruction if not managed well.
The Police yesterday issued a statement and I quote “we have managed to safely rescue Pamela Chisumpa together with thirteen other ladies that were held captive in a house in Chalala area of Lusaka.”
The police acted very professionally in line with their mandate to protect the informers, the young man who is being celebrated and all others.
The police know that revealing these people is a risk on its own, especially that investigations are ongoing.
Allow me to please all colleagues, friends and all to always ensure that we allow the police to work professionally. We are not crime experts, we want to be seen to be heroes in praising these people who helped but we have now exposed them.
Social media brings about some key fundamentals in individuals such as social affirmation, power of salience, competition of who posts first (sad that even deaths, we want to post first that chitechi has died), Reciprocity and unpredictable rewards.
Before we post, always evaluated the outcome, how will all the stakeholders react? In this case, how will the general public react? How will the kidnappers react? How will the police react?
Let’s always ensure we think twice before we post some of these issues. The police are smarter than we all think. They are professionals trained to handle crimes. Sad we all become crime experts. Let’s stick to our own lanes. Lastly, the statement by Zambia Police was an excellent Public relations written statement that was 100 ethical and professional.