Current Issues, Current Conversations

Week in and week out, we find something trending. Social media has played a major role in this. Unlike those days when you had to rely on radio and broadcasting stations to know what's happening around you or even far from you, today it's in the palm of your hand. A quick scroll on the online space and social media and you'll find something waiting for you to consume. This is the reality of the world today.

Added to that is the fact that we have a heightened level of controversial things happening, content creation, world events, and more. All of which are capable of captivating the interests of many people around the world, also sparking remarks, reactions and opinions from people. In a way, social media has aided the trending of events into viral happenings. The other aspect is the things that happen and the state of society today.

In a world where almost everything; if not all is content, where news flies around quickly and easily such that even mainstream media might not be the first source of some news, where a lot of controversies exist and several disagreements hold, where people seem to have a lot to say and where even the most private things are shared online, surely we should expect one thing or another to trend, and this continually.

It's almost as if one thing is lying, waiting for another to stop trending so it can begin trending. Sometimes, it's while one is still being digested and not yet settled that another pops up and takes over, leaving the online world with another matter to feed on. Now and then when you scroll on social media you find one trending matter or another, either locally, nationally or even internationally. Somehow, it has become the order of the day.

We must have come across several trending issues recently. From the ones outside our countries to the ones that pertain exclusively to our countries. For the ones exclusive to my country, I've seen some of them. From the several pieces of content and skits about the Dangote IPO shares to the ones about nursing students in a school being expelled for making controversial content, these were some of the recent trending issues from here.

The Dangote IPO shares were about offering an opportunity for people to invest and become shareholders in the company. But if one thing is certain with the people here, it is that anything can be used for fun and content. This brought about several skits, memes and funny content about it, becoming a trending thing. In the same vein of making virtually everything content, nursing students at a school had to face expulsion for content they made.

The caption was the bone of contention, not because they were dancing in their professional outfit and in a hospital environment. The expulsion of the students added to the level of the trend, with many divided opinions about whether the expulsion was necessary or not, and others even saying nothing was wrong with the content, so no punishment was warranted. It was a case of professionalism, especially in a field as important as health, amidst the existing concern from the public about healthcare.

Image is AI generated.

Thank you for reading!