Dear Tweeps, we are doing this the wrong way.

     Let me just use the word social media enthusiasts because I hate the word addict. That is what most people say but when you think about it, someone's activity/presence really varies on priorities, responsibilities and how much time they can afford to spend online. So I wouldn't call someone an addict just because they can afford to spend more time actively using social media than the other.

I am an IT Officer. I spend 12 hours in front of a computer screen daily because my job requires me to. I would lie if I said it is possible for me not to use social media when all I do is stare at a computer screen all day. I take a 3 minute break every 10 minutes to just walk around for the sake of my eyes but also to refresh my memory. But to avoid a ton of distractions, I decided to only have one social media app I use which is Twitter. It’s a no brainer why I chose twitter, I get all the tech updates I need in no time from TechCrunch, The Verge and my favorite YouTuber MKBHD.  Also having more than one social media app really makes it hard to manage for me so I prefer to just use one during the day and maybe I will check my Instagram (which I opened less than 3 months ago) and Snapchat (which I rarely use at all) so twitter is my main source of entertainment, news updates and a platform I use to voice my opinions, jokes, and all engagement I need for any sort of interaction.

So for a tweep, let me just say that I happen to just be engaged a lot on stuff that happens on Rwanda on Twitter (RwOT) timeline or at least I see a lot there since it’s the only app I use more times than any other app on my phone. I have been on a sick leave since this year began and for that my social media presence has tripled since I am mostly hyperactive because of the medication I am taking and thus, more twitter presence. It helps with the insomnia since I don’t have a kindle yet and out of books to read really, anyone that has a book to spare, gladly DM me on my twitter handle @Rutambi_ and I will send a moto to pick it for me.

For the last 2 days (at the time of posting this piece) #RwOT went wild I’d say. It was all in the name of #IshazaThursday, a hashtag Rwandans use to just throw shades at each other every Thursday, but this last Thursday was like no other. There was one person @ClaudeKarangwa at the center of it all and people really took their time to roast his ass while others took the opportunity to insult, demean and break him down on a personal level. And I am not going to deny my engagement in any of that, I was involved but then again, I will like and retweet any classic roast really. That is the stuff that make me laugh really so as dark as it sounds, I laughed at someone’s pain. And I am not saying I condone any behavior of the sort, but stuff like this happened in a community. Roasting each other is inevitable, people can never be on the same page and we can never have the same taste in things.

Gusererezanya nibisanzwe, gutukana ntago birenze, but there is only one lesson I took out of all of this though. We really underestimate the power of masses.

I follow the likes of #KOT, #UOT, SA and Nigerian Twitter timelines and one thing they do better than us is despite their disagreements, if you attack one, you’ve attacked the entire country and they will go full mode DRACARYS on you. They support people’s businesses (if you’re good) and all this happens amidst all the roasting, rants and ratios. (especially rations, I love nothing like a good ratio)

On the other hand, #RwOT timeline is divided in some sort of way. Most active users kind of belong to or engage with a certain group/community depending on the kind of content they like to see, and I don’t know how this came to be but It’s funny how some people are either for or against. People will hate because they see others do so which is wrong. I think people should hate things that personally don't sit right with them, not because someone they like happens to hate them.

I may be going off about this in the wrong way too and correct me if I am wrong but certain unnecessary rivalry among us and it’s making us look beyond a bigger picture. Unlike other timelines #RwOT has one advantage over the others. See, Rwanda is a small country, pick ten random people on one side and ten on the other side and at least a few will be acquainted or have a common friend. We are closely connected to each other than we think but that is where I think our strength also lies.

Imagine all the local talents and brands we have here. Some are so outstanding that you can’t ignore. I can’t imagine if we all could just support each other and help these local talents with social media outreach. It’s merely a retweet. You press the button, and just mute the content if you don’t want to receive notifications about it, or aren’t interested, but that single share could somehow end up on an interested person’s TL. And I am not saying retweet all the junk that crosses your TL, I am saying if you see something good, push it and let fate do its course. We have the potential to make good work become successful and the potential to drive bad stuff into improvement by simply offering unbiased support whether it’s encouraging or constructive and some stuff really deserve to die off and not exist at all. We could easily make these talents and brands famous by merely admiring the good work they do whether we can afford it or not. It doesn’t take much thinking to recognize something good.

I hate to see good work not being supported all because people have a different opinion or point of view ngo it’s overpriced cg the whole munyangire attidude twibitseho nk’ abanyarwanda. Bigomba guhinduka rwose!

I will just give a quick example of companies like Motions and Uzuri. I look at the stuff they do and it’s simply unbelievable that it’s made in Rwanda. It’s so good the only bad review they get is “abakaritasi barahenda”.  Well, ko iPhone na Samsung zihenda mwese ntimuzitunze?  Has it ever crossed your mind that iPhones na Samsungs zihenda kubera all the labor costs inganda zizikora ziba zashyize mukwishyura abakozi ibihumbi Magana?

It’s the same case for Motions na Uzuri. I have actually been to Motions, I have a friend who works there, mind you, this company hires and has a local workforce kandi namwe murabizi ntago bahembwa imyenda ngo bayicururize. So to overlook that and fail to support by simply pushing a button, how is Motions or Uzuri going to reach their customers who can afford their content if we as a collective lot do our part? Remember supporting is not merely offering money or being a customer. You know they are good, simply like or retweet them, like others say “my next customer could be on your timeline”

If you ever look at the most trending hashtags in the world, you will always find KPop trending on a daily basis. They are by far the biggest fan club I have ever seen and before you knew it, you were listening to BTS.

I can only imagine if we supported and felt proud of our own local products that are capable of reaching international markets, everyone that visits Rwanda would stop there. But we fail to do our part simply because we feel “barahenda”. WE ARE DOING IT ALL WRONG. And we can do so much better.

Anyways, I could be wrong but Elon Musk didn’t just become the richest person in the world because every American can afford a Tesla. Matter of fact, they don’t even produce a quarter of the vehicles that other automakers produce on an annual basis. But they are so good that even those who don’t own them, speak of them and hype them and before you know it, Tesla is slowly becoming the new pride of America.

And so can Motions and Uzuri across East Africa. Wouldn’t it make you feel proud to just be in Nairobi or Kampala and see an Uzuri store there? I would!