The internet knows everything, but who understands all the information posted?

By NERIMA WAKO-OJIWA

When I have free time, I enjoy watching documentaries or scrolling through videos on my social media platforms. I’m always fascinated at how young some content producers are; some are barely 10-years-old yet they produce music, poetry, dance, blogs, and all sorts of online material.

At that age, I was playing friends, and my world was my neighbourhood when I was not in school. Socialising with neighbourhood children or my schoolmates, and a bit of mingling on Sunday at church was what I knew as interaction.

With children out of school and no going to church, their current world is all about staying at home. With all that time spent at home, I wonder what kind of memories are being created, and what a reflection of 2020 will be for them.

Restrictions put in place in early March to contain the spread of the coronavirus have destroyed some businesses and elevated others.

Many artistes have tried to transition to hosting online concerts or posting their content on social media platforms, because in that line of work, one has to be visible. If one disappears for too long they become irrelevant.

And with the younger generation mostly online, the period is even shorter. The amount of time children with access to internet-connected devices varies between gaming, socialising and learning. So grabbing their attention is important to be able to capitalise on one’s offering online.

With all this information online, that is quite easy to access, there is still limited relevant information due to an overload, going by one’s preference. For instance, global politics is evolving fast and personalities matter a great deal.

Forget about track record, or the kind of policies that one wants to bring to an elective position. What matters is how a person connects with the public. Whether they have charisma or not. Whether they are able to speak and capture the audience.

In Kenya we have been witnessing the rift between senators over the revenue sharing formula. The contention is which counties will get more resources, or which will receive less. If we were to do a poll on whether young people understood the different formulas, many will be swayed depending on the senator support, not necessarily the issue. This is also true on the conversation around the referendum — whether we need one or not, depends on who is pushing the agenda.

This is a worrying trend because decisions are not necessarily made with facts or information provided. We have reports that can clearly demonstrate what kind of interventions are required and they are hardly used.

Information just doesn’t grab attention these days, so much is pegged on individual preference.

Nerima Wako-Ojiwa, executive director at Siasa Place @NerimaW