Towards the safer use of social networks in Africa:
a culture-centered approach
Culture refers to the totality of the life of a people. Culture
comprises of the norms, values and systems which make a
people unique. Culture is not static. Culture constantly
undergoes the process of change; influenced by time and
technology. Technology is never morally neutral. It influences
our morals consciously and unconsciously, negatively
and positively. Technology influences our relations
with one another, shapes our institutions and moral values.
New social media technologies are greatly impacting positively
and negatively on cultures all over the world. Cultures
in the west and in Africa have had their fair share of
influences. Global cultures which were hitherto communal
are now increasingly becoming individualized. Limo
(2010: 5) states that new digital media technologies have
created ‘individualized information systems’. For example
mobile phones which were made for interpersonal communication,
now provide facilities for accessing and
sending information freely. Adolescents who were in times
past closely supervised by parents now have greater access
to any kind of information via their mobile phones, tablets
and computers. These digital devices have tended to unlock
the world, giving adolescents a kind new kind of freedom
they had never previously experienced.