By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Starr FmStarr FmStarr Fm
  • Home
  • Election Hub
  • General
    GeneralShow More
    Speaker Bagbin addresses Parliament on Dr. Ayew Afriyie’s misconduct
    “Even a dog is obeyed in office” – Speaker Bagbin rebukes Dr Ayew Afriyie
    June 11, 2025
    Springboard Road Show Foundation signs MoU with youth-led organisations to scale Empower360 impact
    June 11, 2025
    Speaker Bagbin addresses Parliament on Dr. Ayew Afriyie’s misconduct
    Speaker Bagbin pardons MP Dr. Ayew Afriyie, halts Privileges Committee action
    June 11, 2025
    Renal patients stranded at hospital amid nurses’ strike in Ghana
    Renal Patients Association pleads with nurses to end strike over patient concerns
    June 11, 2025
    ECG engineers inspect power lines after snake-induced outage in Ashanti Region
    Snake causes power outage in Ashanti Region as ECG steps up wildlife protection
    June 11, 2025
  • Business
    BusinessShow More
    ADB explores strategic agric-insurance partnership to enhance farming in Ghana
    June 11, 2025
    President Mahama announces 24-hour operations at Tema and Takoradi ports during Ghana Horticulture Expo 2025.
    Tema and Takoradi ports to operate under 24-hour economy soon – Mahama
    June 11, 2025
    CIMG Governing Council meets Chief of Staff for strategic collaboration
    June 11, 2025
    NPA CEO speaks on energy levy at Safety Week in Accra
    NPA CEO assures oil marketing companies of stability as energy levy takes effect
    June 11, 2025
    Samuel Nartey George
    Gov’t to Audit Telecom Service Quality in Q4 2025 – Sam George
    June 10, 2025
  • Politics
    PoliticsShow More
    Speaker Bagbin addresses Parliament on Dr. Ayew Afriyie’s misconduct
    “Even a dog is obeyed in office” – Speaker Bagbin rebukes Dr Ayew Afriyie
    June 11, 2025
    Speaker Bagbin addresses Parliament on Dr. Ayew Afriyie’s misconduct
    Speaker Bagbin pardons MP Dr. Ayew Afriyie, halts Privileges Committee action
    June 11, 2025
    Deputy Attorney General presents documents in GH¢49 million NSB case
    AG presents 85 documents in GH¢49M NSB case against Adu-Boahen and others
    June 11, 2025
    Minority MPs address press on Ghana’s unclear Western Sahara foreign policy stance
    Minority demands clarity from Foreign Minister over Ghana’s stance on Western Sahara
    June 11, 2025
    Dr. Ayew Afriyie discusses NPP’s planned apology to President Mahama
    NPP moves to apologise to Mahama over Wontumi’s offensive remarks
    June 11, 2025
  • Entertainment
    EntertainmentShow More
    Daniel Clerk speaks on the decline of storytelling in Ghana’s film industry
    Ghanaian movies have lost their soul – Veteran actor Daniel Clerk
    June 11, 2025
    BullGod discusses Baba Sadiq’s post-election future on Starr FM
    Baba Sadiq doesn’t need position to thrive under NDC – BullGod fires at critics
    June 11, 2025
    Miss Tourism Ghana 2024 thrills the world at Miss Orient Tourism Global
    June 10, 2025
    Fresh wave of cultural immersive experiences elevates Ghana’s nightlife
    June 10, 2025
    Merqury Quaye Takes Charge at Smirnoff In The Mix Vol. 3
    June 10, 2025
  • Sports
    SportsShow More
    Police Ladies football team to compete in CAF Women’s qualifiers
    Police Ladies to represent Ghana at 2025 WAFU B CAF Women’s Champions League qualifiers
    June 11, 2025
    AIS student Kweku Ayim holding gold medal after winning discus event for Ghana
    AIS student wins gold for Ghana at West Africa athletics championship
    June 11, 2025
    GFA Disciplinary Committee Awards 3-0 Victory to Basake Holy Stars After Abandoned Match Against Nations FC
    June 10, 2025
    2025 National Doubles Tournament Concludes with Exciting Finals; Team Ghana Contingent Announced for Upcoming Grand Slam Events
    June 9, 2025
    Sports Minister Engages UK Stakeholders on Plans to Transform Ghana’s Sports Infrastructure
    June 6, 2025
  • Technology
    TechnologyShow More
    AgriTech Challenge Pro showcases potential of the agricultural sector to create jobs for the youth
    May 29, 2025
    Crypto regulation to spur innovation, attract investment
    May 20, 2025
    Ghana Grows Empowers 32 Youth with Skills Training and Business Support
    May 16, 2025
    Real QLED – Samsung’s innovations redefine picture quality standard
    May 14, 2025
    Real QLED TV from Samsung: Mirroring real life
    May 14, 2025
  • International
    InternationalShow More
    Interpol Issues Red Notice for Former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta
    June 5, 2025
    Elon Musk Unloads on Trump Following Fallout Over Spending Bill
    June 5, 2025
    Starrfm.com.gh
    Trump to Terminate US Government Contracts with Musk
    June 5, 2025
    President Donald Trump
    Trump Issues Travel Ban on Citizens from 12 Countries Over Security Concerns
    June 5, 2025
    President Mahama Slams Trump’s Comments on South Africa, Calls It an Insult to All Africans
    May 28, 2025
  • Factometer
Search
© 2024 EIB Network Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Seidu Agongo writes: Is social media your enabler or destroyer?
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Starr FmStarr Fm
Font ResizerAa
  • Headlines
  • Election Hub
  • General
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Factometer
Search
  • Headlines
  • Election Hub
  • General
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Factometer
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
© 2024 EIB Network Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Editors PickFeatures

Seidu Agongo writes: Is social media your enabler or destroyer?

Starrfm.com.gh By Starrfm.com.gh Published May 22, 2023
Share
SHARE

On May 15, 2023, when a boisterous crowd of Nigerians on and off social media were urging their own Hilda Baci on to set a new record as the longest non-stop cook in the world, Ghanaians were realising that one of their social media influencers, Mona Faiz Montrage, has been charged in the United States of America for allegedly using the same internet to dupe people.

As is to be expected, both issues became leading on social media platforms in both countries; topping discussions, feeds, and trends. These two accidental coincidences tell of the powerful nature of social media as a tool for good and for bad in the modern world.

Almost an intrinsic part of today’s man, social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok, and YouTube hold a great potential for both good and evil, depending on who is using them and for what.

In leisure, they abridge time and space. They also allow instant, easy, affordable, and real-time multimedia connections and communication, thereby reducing the pain that distance brings. They are also a great source of learning, knowledge sharing, networking, and remote working among others.

Statistics

The World Population Review says there are more Snapchat accounts in Ghana (over 34 million) than the country’s total population (31 million). Even the perceived decent apps have caught the virus, too.

Also, data published in Meta’s advertising resources indicates that Facebook had 5.65 million users in Ghana in January 2023 (DataReportal).

By February 2023, the numbers published in Meta’s advertising tools indicated that Instagram had 1.70 million users in Ghana in early 2023 (DataReportal).

For Twitter, some 1.15 million users are Ghanaians, according to the February 2023 data of DataReportal.

Cumulatively, Ghana was home to 6.60 million social media users in January 2023, equating to 19.5 percent of the total population.

The favourite social media platforms for Ghanaians, according to DataReportal, are WhatsApp (44.2%), Instagram (13.5%), Facebook (12.5%), Twitter (7.9%), TikTok (6.0%), Snapchat (4.1%), Telegram (3.9%), iMessage (1.1%), Facebook Messenger (0.8%) and Pinterest (0.8%).

Potential

This huge following from Ghana means that anything posted by an individual in Ghana spreads fast and wild. It also means the potential of global networking is enormous and those who know and value it can prioritise it through these platforms.

The easy-to-use nature of these platforms means that anybody who owns a smartphone and has access to the internet can use them. The farmer can use social media to form virtual cooperatives to share problems and find solutions as well as sell produce, universities can use them for remote lecturing and students can use them for virtual learning.

Business people and institutions can also use social media to enhance their brand visibility. Even individuals use social media for a billion other things, including crafting an image for personal branding purposes, selling business propositions, and advertising their professional skills, among others.

Almost anybody and everybody can find some good use of social media’s boundless opportunities.

Bad influence

Sadly, however, in our part of the world, social media has resulted in considerable decay in morals, privacy invasion, sexual immorality, fakeness, fraud, deceit, and everything bad. As a result, many view it as the devil’s tool of bad influence, especially on the youth. Although these vices are not new, social media magnifies them through its huge global following and labyrinthine networks.

Instead of harnessing the positives, our youth use them to compete for attention through likes, shares, or following. The irony is that not much of that attention is geared towards positivity to society or indigenous businesses. Indeed, social media has made life a competition of vanity. It has become the preferred stage for outing spousal foibles in a no-holds-barred manner.

Rather than leveraging these numbers for positive things, many a Ghanaian youth is wallowing in social media’s vain allure and destroying themselves in the process. Their whole life is now a social media spectacle. It is the new addiction that is almost more destructive than the most potent cocktail of hard drugs.

But how long can this last, given the havoc it is already wrecking on our youth and the country as a whole? It is time the youth see the fakeness of social media and return to our cultural factory setting.

If we should be there, we should use it to advance our own good, build and nurture relationships and market our talents, country, and businesses to the world.

Alhaji Seidu Agongo is a philanthropist and businessman.

Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM

You Might Also Like

The Saga of the Scanned Pink Sheets & Ablekuma North!

Prof. Ameyaw-Ekumfi, Ex CEO of GIIF Seek Bail Variation Over $2M Sky Train Charges

The Case for Ghana’s New Energy Sector Levy

Mining for a Greener Future: World Sustainability Organization Introduces Sustainable Certification to Ghana 

Restructuring vs. Liquidation: Choosing the Right Path in Insolvency.

TAGGED:seidu agongoSocial Media
Share This Article
Facebook Twitter Email Print
Share
Previous Article Kumawu by-election: EC clarifies contentious notice of poll
Next Article Collapsed building kills girl, 5, sibling injured at Koforidua

Starr 103.5FM

Starr FmStarr Fm
Follow US
© 2024 EIB Network Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
newsletter icon
Join Us!

Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss our latest in news, podcasts etc..

[mc4wp_form]
Zero spam, Unsubscribe at any time.
adbanner
AdBlock Detected
Our site is an advertising supported site. Please whitelist to support our site.
Okay, I'll Whitelist
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?