There Is No More Private Meeting

If you are in a gathering or meeting addressing as little as three people you should be careful what you say and do, someone might put the video of your speech on Facebook and you will end up having more than an audience of three. The colleague you made a crude joke about in the speech will see it. The people you didn't allow to join the meeting will finally put the entire meeting under a microscope.

We no longer live in a world with privacy. Say something not expected and you'll land yourself an infamous spot on Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and people's blogs. As long as there is a camera in the room, be it a TV camera or a phone camera, you could as well be speaking to the entire world. There is no more private meeting. And a meeting's audience is no longer just the people invited to the meeting.

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I think it all began with the "Oga at the top" interview. Suddenly people began taking interest in recording everything and posting them online. There is now a journalist everywhere. Say something unexpected or do something unusual and the world might know about it tomorrow. Whatever you don't want your entire world to learn about, don't say it in a room where people have their phones with them.

If you are at a shopping mall and rudely treated by the cashier, don't raise a scene. The video that would surface online the next day won't have the beginning it would only cover the drama you did. Whatever you do, always know that someone who doesn't care about your privacy is probably filming you and will let the world or your world know about things you never intended them to know. 

It is the new reality in Nigeria. The largest TV station is now YouTube, the most read newspapers are now Facebook and Twitter, and everyone with a phone is now a journalist. And like in traditional media, what sells most is still scandal. So make sure that if you will be in a scandal, let there be no phones around.