Robert Mugabe resigned. That is common knowledge now. The events leading up to the resignation though shed light on our behaviour as humans and how large an appetite we have to fill an information void.
There was a time when you had to wait for the morning paper or wait for the nightly news to fill that void. Then it evolved into 24-hour news channels and later on into websites and tweets. Our need has always been to fill that information void and fast.
News that filled a very huge information void that existed between events of November the 15th and November 21st when the president resigned was shared largely via WhatsApp. We were served a mixture of fake news, sensationalism and in between that circus was a snippet of the facts.
Amidst all that chaos you had international news agencies quoting fake social media accounts because they too had an information void to fill as nothing was coming from the local news agencies. Our news agencies were outdone by the new news distribution channel WhatsApp. It delivered the news faster and more convenient than they could, whether fake or not. Presenting a new stage in the evolution of our need for information, Instant Messaging mobile apps.
The reason why instant messaging won the information war during our “military take-over of government” is because it was the fastest distribution method and it served the purpose of simply filling the information void. Instant Messaging is also mobile and WhatsApp is the number one app in our country on Play Store and on the App Store. WhatsApp is social. It is mobile.
It is a never-ending comments section of news articles without the need to log on or leave your credentials and where comments to the article are never closed. It is news without the unnecessary noise that surrounds a web-based article. It is instant and fits perfectly into our need quickly fill that information void and this might be the new news station if news outlets keep ignoring the digital landscape.
It’s not official until it’s official
While WhatsApp messages were flooding our inboxes we would go to our trusted news websites and there would be no updates. The news agencies needed to be a part of the social conversation.
Establishing a Fact Checker webpage would have steered the focus back to them as they would put their professional journalism work into practice by giving an official word to the fake news that was being shared. We would have visited the page when a fake news article went viral. It is a disservice to readers for official news outlets to ignore viral fake news when we look up to them for an official word.
The president must have resigned more than 5 times on WhatsApp ‘news’ up until the State of the Nation address on the 19th of November for the people to know the process in which a president can resign after our former president did not announce his resignation that night.
Knowledge of how this process takes place was then shared widely on WhatsApp but news agencies could have had a professional write about this during the time rumours started to circulate that he had already resigned between the 15th and 18th of November.
Be a part of the trend
If the coup is trending write about the history of coups or failed coups. Be a part of the conversation or fake news will fill that void and give the people news that they want. Riding on the trend with facts will also ensure that traffic keeps coming and people are informed and entertained. After all, news is entertainment.
Take the debate to social media: Give the people a voice
Social Media pages are not only for news outlets to distribute information. We are also there to be entertained. Considering the many debates that were held on WhatsApp groups, people like debating and sharing their opinion. No news agency decided to let the debate be held on their court by asking pertinent questions, we were answering and making up theories on our WhatsApp groups.
Social Media influencers have mastered this and use Facebook Live to such great effect inviting people to join the discussion. People want to share their opinion and they want to be heard and these influencers are filling that void. After all we are social creatures but the news agencies still want to treat the internet as if its print. Social media killed one-way communication.
Push Notifications
Push Notifications are a way for news agencies to get the news to their readers faster than a WhatsApp message. Push Notifications are the mobile version of breaking news on 24-hour news channels. The same way you get a notification of a new message with a brief summary of the message from WhatsApp on your phone’s notification area is the same way you would get breaking news instantly delivered to you. A requirement for this is a mobile application something that our news agencies do not have.
In one of the most historic events in our country, the news agencies let us down in this digital age. Peer to Peer news won the day and as we waited for the news at 8 on ZTV we fed each other news, gossiped, debated and entertained each other on an Instant Messaging application. The revolution was not televised it was on a mobile app and the “People News Network” was the channel.
Tapiwa Creates is a digital strategist who’s passionate about success, development and conquering the digital landscape
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