Time to ban celebrities from social media?

 

Tiwa Savage & Tee Billz

I’ve never entertained the notion that entertainers are role models. As far as I am concerned, they are just people who have been blessed with talent in areas where people pay to watch someone perform.

Because of social media, many of them have become even closer to their fan base with every twit and post reaching millions in milliseconds.

But instead of using this to promote good causes – as role models – they use it to wash their extremely dirty linen in public. They have turned their private lives into beer parlour and motor park gossip. They were meant to entertain us with their talent not with their private lives. Some things are meant to stay in the closet.

These days all what we hear is who is fighting with who, who is sleeping with who and who is stealing from who. They seldom come up with anything beneficial to society. And some of them are supposed to be “brand ambassadors.”

One wonders if the brands they represent know that these “ambassadors” may be doing more harm than good.

Although we live in a society where people seem to have thrown all values out of the window, those at the forefront need to exercise caution about what they push into our noses.
There are far better brand ambassadors and role models in the society. There are so many who are making an honest living and are extremely good at what they do. But since they don’t have millions of followers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, they are ignored by the corporate world.

Some entertainers think that being notorious is the same as being popular. Some are happy to paint themselves in bad light. Being a bad boy sells. They may even fabricate a fight or love fest, post it online and when it starts trending, they delete the post. Some would even claim their site was hacked. Story for the gods.

So is it time to keep celebrities away from social media until they can get their act together?

Paul Okoye, one half of the P-Square duo, has come out on Twitter to warn feuding couple Tiwa Savage and her husband Tunji “Tee Billz” Balogun.

“Don't ever go to the public to solve a private matter lol. It will only get worse!!! You are only entertaining people. And they re having fun,” Okoye twitted.

He should know. Their own breakup and family feud was fully played out on social media.

Older celebrities such as Sir Victor Uwaifo, King Sunny Ade, Olu Jacobs and Chika Okpala may have their faults just like any other human but since they don’t go on social media to report every little thing going on in their private lives they are still revered by their fans. Maybe they are just too old to embrace this new lifestyle where your phone is your best companion. But it has helped them maintain a larger-than-life image and add to their longevity. 

Photo credit: Vanguard