The viral Lola tweet and the screenshot culture

I am pretty sure that a stranger must have slid into your DM begging for financial help at least once.

While this is usual, airing people who ask you for money on Twitter is not common. We don't post screenshots of people requesting for financial help. We ignore or help or even scold the individual. Putting up screenshots from a person asking you for money in your DM is rare.

Screenshots belong to the field of relationships gone wrong. A Nigerian woman who simply goes by the name Lola has been trending on Twitter NG today, Tuesday, September 12, 2017.

Yesterday, she posted a screenshot of a man (@BadmanSauce) asking her for financial help in her DM. Lola scolded the guy for begging her for money and aired him out on Twitter by posting their convo on DM.

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Her expository tweet is close to 500 retweets and close to 300 likes. There are over 39,000 tweets with the word 'Lola'.

People have reacted to her (mostly negatively) to her viral tweet. A lot of folks have called her out for blasting a guy publicly who asked her for help. Times might be hard for all but no one likes to shame someone asking for money. Nigerians are just too decent to call out someone in need of financial assistance. It is not just in our nature. What Lola did was a shock to our system.

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This episode brings into the picture the culture of screenshots and airing people out. When Drake rapped "only thing I fear is a headshot or a screenshot" on 'Ojuelegba remix' he was not only talking about his fear of dealing with shady women who want to expose him for fame. The 6 God was representing the paranoia of this generation of men.

Sending a risky text or message is risky business. You never know the intentions of the person at the other end. A thirsty text might get the screenshot treatment and might end floating on Twitter. Nobody wants their personal business out there on social media.

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And this applies to women also. Women are also scared of sending risky text messages for fear of the person on the other end embarrassing them or exposing them.

The general rule is not to post screenshots because it makes you look messy, someone who doesn't have the decency to keep his or her private life private. The only time posting screenshots is cool is when your life is being threatened. Apart from that, keep your life on the low. Being a snitch isn't a nice rep.

Back to Lola's story, without context, we do not know the true nature of things. We don't know the nature of the relationship between Lola and the guy. We don't know if he is a scammer. People shouldn't be quick to judge but this is social media where the verdict is swift and where there is no mercy.

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Publicly shaming anonymous people who beg for money in your DM might just stop others from doing so. Still, it doesn't feel right when we see a leaked DM convo on our timeline.