Twitter Lawlessness: Faves Posting Whatever & Followers Who Worship Them
The Twitter streets are not for the faint-hearted, and they never have been. This has been the case since pre-Elon days when the app was known for its trademark sky blue logo with a bird on it. Never has it been a safe space, if anything it has always been infamous for popularising the culture of savagery while being a no-hold’s-barred platform where anything goes and a digital jungle where the only people who survive are those with the spiciest clapbacks and the ability to take insults with a pinch of salt instead of taking them to heart. But such cyber anarchy always comes at a cost, and it is evident in the loss of social manners and humanity in the digital world and the arrogance that comes with being gassed up by many followers who are a collective of yes-men that see nothing wrong when their faves post dangerous Tweets.
For the sake of consistency, I’ll call Twitter, Twitter. A lot of people don’t really call this thing X anyway. And while this write-up will cover the toxic culture of reckless posting on Twitter, I’ll limit the scope to South African Twitter.
Mzansi Twitter does not lack when it comes to colourful characters. From controversial kingpins such as Chris Excel and Nota Baloyi to principalities of comebacks and timeless posts such as Vhoyde and Mr. Handsome, there is always a little something-something for everyone. As we always say, “Being bored in South Africa is a choice.” It truly is when there’s something to laugh about every second post on the feed. And in the age of monetisation, the volume of things posted for laughs are at an all-time high, and inversely, morality has sunken to an abysmal low. Anything for Elon’s money.
However, as much as that is the case, how much exactly is enough and what is the endgame when considering what is funny and entertaining?
A lot of Tweets are now rage-baiting posts, and it’s always a race for engagements more than anything. Whether the topic is about gender wars or body counts or even more gender wars, Twitter is a space of followers and zealots who would do anything to stay at the feet of those they follow. And in dire instances, the same followers care nothing for the aftereffects of their support, even if it means them condoning their fave will lead to the destruction of their prized golden calf.
A good, real-time example of this would be the arrest of Musa Khawula, who was recently denied bail for a criminal case dating back to 2021. And while him being held in isn’t necessarily because of anything he has posted, he was, according to Sunday World, reportedly not given bail because of past violations while he was out on bail. One of these past violations is the notorious case of defamation involving him and businessman Ze Nxumalo and his wife and former Miss SA Tamaryn Green-Nxumalo. As everybody knows, all of that was because of his status as Gossip Girl of the Twitter world in the Mzansi space, a position he leveraged to make defamatory allegations against Ze Nxumalo.
As much as this is a real-life exhibit, it represents a pattern of the dynamics between followers and their favourites. People seem to forget that a career-ruining lawsuit is merely one Tweet away. This reality, though, is hard to see when your followers are yes-men who laugh at and co-sign everything being Tweeted instead of holding the one posting accountable, particularly if the post is a threat in any way, even to the owner of the account. And this kind of power – having people follow your every post and engage with you no matter what – can foster the God Complex and encourage those faves to be bolder and even more callous. When the head gets that puffed up, there is usually no coming back from that, unfortunately.
Musa Khawula | SUPPLIED
The scariest aspect of Twitter is not that the faves who are notorious are inherently evil people. It’s the fact that they could be ordinary people who are using the cover of anonymity to bring to life their darkest fantasies. Social psychologist Dr. Zimbardo once coined the term the Lucifer Effect, a phenomenon that explains how good people eventually turn bad or do bad things and how the environment is a factor. And one of the things he touched on was how a mask could allow a person who would otherwise be good to perpetuate acts of evil because they know they won’t be known for it. That’s where the danger is. That’s the eternal pit that Mzansi has fallen into when it comes to Twitter.
Ironically, these faves are also people with faces and feelings as well. Yes, even those hiding behind burner accounts and profile pictures not their own. And yet, this culture of rewarding jokes and savagery with blind loyalty and engagement is the same thing that elevates them to a position where they feel they can do and write no wrong thing knowing nobody will right their wrongs. As a result, they begin to think they exist in their own world, one where the law doesn’t exist. A world where punishment and accountability aren’t factors.
And when that’s the case, who exactly is to blame when a defamatory Tweet sees the light of day? Is it the one with thousands and thousands of followers? Or the thousands and thousands of followers fawning over this one account they know is going to give them their usual fix of trash content? Perhaps that question leans toward the chicken-first-or-egg-first scenario, but the essence of it is that it’s a collective issue that needs everyone to partake.
There’s no better way to sum up everything than to cap the piece with rapper K.O’s timeless wisdom on the late AKA’s “Run Jozi”. “What’s goin’ on with these amateurs over the internet posting some messages? Next thing you know your career is over, ntwana, over some characters?” he said.
To this day, that remains relevant.