Parody Accounts and Fake News
In Nigeria, if bad governance doesn't kill us, fake news will do the job. The recent elections in Nigeria has proven that, coupled with the rapid increase in parody accounts on social media, particularly twitter. Every Tom, Dick and Harry had a field day opening and operating twitter accounts in politicians' names and conveniently including “parody” in the bio. Most people went ahead to use these accounts to spread fake news. Tweeps were conveniently retweeting and trending information that never existed. Politicians and their spokespersons (and this is not me defending them. Dem sef don too do) had their jobs cut out for them, struggling to explain and exonerate themselves from fake news everyday. First of all, what is a parody? A humorous piece of writing, drama, or music which imitates the style of a well-known person or represents a familiar situation in an exaggerated way. Let me give you a few examples. Robin Hood: Men in Tights (parody of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves)...