When my 'imaginary husband' was killed on FB

I have come to realise that social media has a courtroom complete with a jury. The only problem is that in this courtroom, all the accused persons are guilty and will never be given a chance to prove their innocence. The online courtroom is not only unfair, it has no justice too. The relationship I have with social media is a love-hate relationship. Sometimes I wake up so much in love with social media and at other times, I curse whoever invented it. Social media can make you a king one day and drag your name in mud the next. If you have a thick skin, you will throw your hands in the air and blubber “whatever”. If you have a thin skin like me, you might as well start believing in life after death and pray that you reincarnate as a wasp and sting all those who dragged your name in mud. Sting their fingers thoroughly so that they are left with nothing to type those humiliating words. It’s only on social media where we have judges who have never seen the inside of a Law class yet they are fast at giving verdicts. We have ‘experienced’ crime scene investigators who have never set foot in any crime scene and ooh my, undertakers who are ready to bury a ‘corpse’ that is not just alive and kicking, but trending as well. I was once made a widow on social media, yet I was not even seeing anyone, leave alone being married! Apparently, my ‘husband’ had drowned! Tufiakwa! Amadioha forbid! May the imaginary husband that was ‘killed’ on-line continue ‘resting in peace’. Fighting an on-line battle is like swimming against the current. You will use all the little strength you have in you to keep swimming but we both know you will be heading nowhere. When the attackers on social media decide to attack, there is no turning back for them and they attack in full swing. All they do is hurl grenades with no target on sight. My little advice to those who have a thin skin is to turn a deaf ear and a blind eye in case they fall victim of cyber bullying. Engaging the on-line army is like supplying them with bullets to load their guns. The best thing to do is to let them shoot all they want, once they run out of bullets and grenades; they will put their weapons down and look for another potential client. The good thing about the on-line army is that it retreats as fast as it charges towards the enemy. Unless you react, their war is always short lived, barely goes beyond a week. There are, however, those who enjoy on-line battles, whether or not they are on the receiving end. In fact, they will themselves initiate a scandal that puts them on the receiving end if the on-line army takes too long to attack them. I don’t know what that is to you but I would call it inferiority complex. They force the on-line army to attack even when it’s clear all the soldiers have given their lives to God and made a covenant never to fight. All they want is for people to keep talking about them. It’s the only way they can remain relevant to the society. Do not let those ones fool you. Make them not your role models because unlike you, they are suffering from a condition. To them, engaging the on-line army gives them some happiness within. Those are the only ones allowed to hit back at the on-line army because they are an on-line army on their own. Whether negatively or positively, to them, the more they trend, the better they feel. Everyone deserves a chance to be heard in any accusation. Unfortunately, social media has a coin that is one-sided. You are either on its side or no side. My downstairs neighbour, if you have a thick skin, like I said, just throw your hands in the air and blubber any suitable word as you read the insults, curses and verdicts directed at you on-line. For those with thin skins, avoid controversies that could make you trend negatively. If you find yourself on the ‘wrong’ side of social media, shut up and remain on that side. As for me and my house, we see the on-line army, we run! After all cowards live longer!