Alright let’s be clear about one thing, I wouldn’t have wrote this if the last weeks of the “national web elections” didn’t make me question the sanity of some self appointed digital experts. And also because I see the Maroc Web Awards as more than just a competition. Beside all the major moroccan digital and web events, the MWA is one of the closest to making a change in the society, engaging hundreds of thousands of people every year and growing. It is with that spirit of sharing that it all started one day.
But in the late editions a lot of people noted that the content of some candidates was pitiful, and started lashing out on the event. The conditions of participation for the MWA are always debatable, but wishing for those candidates to be banned and blocked on whatever platform they’re using is a serious problem.
Our relationship with internet
I believe that the web is an enhancer of the society’s tiniest phenomenons, it doesn’t have the same restrictions as you’ll see on everyday streets, the pressure of the judging sight is far less heavy behind a bright screen. Just have a look at our moroccan facebook pages and groups, and instagram most popular profiles.
So now you are surprised that all the content is in moroccan dialect, and you miss the ol’ good blog writing in fancy french ? You think that the content is poor in meaning and purpose ?
Well just remember who could afford an Adsl connexion 10 years back ; only the middle class average instructed families and above, or the geeks teasing their parents for an access to the holy land of world wide web.
Now that everyone’s got that access from their pockets, don’t expect to stay with the same cozy family you got used to back in the days.
Our daily scary world took over that geeky bubble we used to share, with all of its bouzebalism, taboos and fantasies. And I see some people freaking out because what was considered as an attribute for a cultivated society got disrupted.
Bringing the sanctimonious talk to the web
What I don’t understand is why some people want to bring more censorship to the moroccan web community, no sir that’s not your job and none of your business, Google and Zuckerberg are already taking care of it. For whom is so concerned with the “quality” of content in our social media, you have to go deeper into education and values of our youth. The web is a place of free will, where people escape to unleash the things they couldn’t do in the tangible space – and I use tangible instead of real, because boy the web is a very real place, only not touchable, yet.
If you don’t like the fact that a couple keeps sharing their newly-weds life on social media, then tell yourself that it’s exactly the same thing as with TV, vloging and storytelling is becoming the new reality show, and it all depends on the quality of its audience. It is that audience that fuels our national TV and its shows, so there is no need to keep whipping the guys when the real problem is surrounding us. Let’s just put honesty and consistency aside for now. Btw Casey Neistat does the same thing, a kind of Kardashian for geeks… You’ll see that there is a big blur between what’s bringing some real value to the community and what’s rubbish, it all depends on the eye of the beholder.
What we have to understand is that the web is our mirror, and we have face it. So please enough morality talking and let’s create to save the community.
