Social media accounts reflect our digital psyches.
Jung described the psyche as “the totality of all psychic processes, conscious as well as unconscious”. Digital psyches, our social media profiles, are the looking glasses reflecting our likes, dislikes and personal thoughts.
Social media plays an undeniable role in our daily lives. I keep in touch with my cowriter, Suzannah, through social media. Thanks to this, we don’t have to fax endless Gonzo Papers notes back and forth like Hunter S Thompson, who habitually did so “too late to be edited, but just in time to make the printers”.
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What does social media say about you, and what could it say about others around you?
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What does social media say about you, and what could it say about others around you? Social media reveals more than just your basic likes, like listening to Nirvana and reading a lot of Tolkien, but also locks your thoughts and musings in time. TikTok, Facebook and YouTube can be a good way to know someone, but when potential danger signs are ignored, social media is a darker trip.
According to the BBC, social media played an important role in Olly Stephens’s killing. The evidence showed that “violent videos featured on the killers’ phones”, and the teenaged killers planned their attack using social media. Court evidence showed that Nikolas Cruz, the Parkland school shooter, had lashed out on social media months before the attack happened. One comment said, “I’m going to be a professional school shooter.”
You are responsible for your own social media likes, follows and comments. However, your responsibility also extends to reporting others who scam, threaten or endanger.
Happy Friday: Humanity versus bear
The “man versus bear” meme is a hypothetical question, which asks whether women would rather be stuck in the woods with a man or a bear.
What’s the difference? Bears won’t become social media stalkers, bears won’t spike your drink, and bears aren’t the general focus of the #MeToo movement. A bear lacks malicious intent, but with people, you can’t be sure. It’s meant as a comment on gender-based violence and widespread discomfort, but the meme also quickly illustrates the link between social media and personal responsibility.
Facebook comments are divided between people who have got the point, people who haven’t, and people who are metaphorically poking the bear. My cowriter says, “I accidentally started a fight with a meme. Happy Friday.” The same meme appears on my timeline moments later, and it’s a good illustration of why people should think before they like, share or comment. The digital psyche reveals a mountain of misogyny hiding in the comments. My own friends list goes down a notch after I realise that I wouldn’t want that comments section near my cowriter.
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I’m a 30-year-old male, and sometimes even I’d rather choose the bear over what social media can reveal. I’ve recommended panic buttons, self-defence and Tasers to many people: generally, not against bears, but always against people.
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There are some, possibly many, people I wouldn’t want to be alone with either. I get it. Creeps come from all sexes and genders: humanity is still the most dangerous animal in the zoo, quoting The life of Pi. I’m a 30-year-old male, and sometimes even I’d rather choose the bear over what social media can reveal. I’ve recommended panic buttons, self-defence and Tasers to many people: generally, not against bears, but always against people.
Love, like, law: The legal implications of likes
Likes, comments and shares have clear legal implications. You are responsible for what you like, share and endorse through social media platforms.
TikTok, Instagram and Twitter (now X) banned influencer Andrew Tate in 2022. Controversial singer Steve Hofmeyr faced a notorious lawsuit from the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) for his Facebook comments directed at the LGBTQ+ community.
A 2018 case in the Gauteng High Court (Manyi v Dhlamini) makes a clear legal point: there are some things you can’t and shouldn’t say on social media. The ruling says: “The defamatory words were published in WhatsApp which is a social media, with wide and broad spectrum (sic) readership.” Constitutions permit freedom of speech, but don’t leave room for deliberate attacks or cyberbullying.
According to the LA Times, Oakland police officers were disciplined for “sexist and racially charged social media posts” in 2021. Also in 2021, a nurse from Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami was fired for posting photographs of a newborn with birth defects to her social media profiles. Actress Gina Carano was fired from television show The Mandalorian in 2021 after comparing United States politics to the Holocaust. Similarly, Melissa Barrera won’t be part of the upcoming Scream VII after making politically motivated social media posts.
Social media is your playground – if you’re willing to take responsibility for its implications.
What’s legal?
Legal Aid offers “tax-funded legal assistance” for criminal and civil cases. Elizabeth Nieuwoudt from Legal Aid’s Tembisa head office says, “Likes on posts are seen as publication of an opinion.” Legally, if you’ve liked or shared something, you’ve endorsed its content or views.
Check through your own social media likes and follows to see what’s there. Page names can be changed manually, and this is often done when pages are taken over or sold to new owners. This means that you might suddenly follow a page called “Arkansas Furry Community” instead of “Cute Kitten Memes” without knowing it.
What could happen if someone likes, comments or posts something that has further legal implications? “Such a person can be held liable either in terms of the criminal law (crimen injuria) if the affected person lays a charge at the police, or the person affected by the post can issue a summons against them, or institute an application in the Equality Court.”
The Constitution and Bill of Rights permits freedom of speech: our version of the First Amendment. However, Elizabeth notes that the same Constitution also ensures a person’s right to dignity. “The right to dignity includes a good name, or the right not to be discriminated against based on race, gender and religion.”
“To protect these rights, the Equality Court was established to make it easier for any affected person to take steps against any person that infringes their human rights.” Alternatively, says Elizabeth, defamation cases can also be heard in an ordinary civil court.
Wrongful dismissal?
According to Cambridge Dictionary, defamation is “the action of damaging the reputation of a person or group by saying or writing bad things about them that are not true”. Libel, on the other hand, refers to “a piece of writing that contains bad and false things about a person”.
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With great reach also comes great responsibility.
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Social media lawsuits have also presented the flip side, where people have won the right to their opinions and likes – or compensation for wrongful dismissal. Canadian Pacific conductor and model Stephanie Katelnikoff was fired after taking social media photographs at her workplace. However, courts awarded her compensation in 2020. Comedian Jad Sleiman experienced a “worst nightmare” after being fired from broadcasting for his stand-up comedy shows. Employers thought his stand-up shows, posted on social media platforms, were offensive enough to warrant his dismissal. However, he was reinstated.
Let’s go to Texas. Texas Tech University (TTU) fired assistant professor Jairo Fúnez-Flores for political posts on X. However, an investigation found that the professor had contravened no internal policies (or laws), and he was reinstated to his job in 2024.
Social media posts are not allowed to be inflammatory, defamatory or untrue. However, laws permit free speech when statements are legal and true – and just unpopular. With great reach also comes great responsibility.