Don’t be short sighted in your frustration!

Talking while angry, frustrated and your emotions are still high is never a good idea.

It is likely that when you do, you will utter words that you will regret later. Some Batswana proved not to have emotional intelligence last weekend during the Miss World pageant. They were furious because they felt that Miss Botswana, Lesego Chombo was hard done and should have been the rightful Miss World. Some threw tantrums and came out with guns blazing to express their anger on social media.

While everybody agrees that Ms Chombo did exceptionally well and deserved the Miss World title, we cannot burst out in anger and frustration to a point where we go against the very essence of who we are as Batswana, and what our queen stood for on that international stage. It is also okay to express frustration, but there is a thin line between freedom of expression and bullying, as some even went to an extent of mentioning names of those they were not happy with. You might not agree with decisions taken, but you certainly cannot lose yourself in the process.

Uttering destructive words that are full of hate will definitely not reverse the results and bring the crown to Botswana. In fact, all the negative, slanderous utterances have potential to do more harm than good. We have undone all the good that she did, as well as the work done by her predecessors in this competition. Have you even thought about how she, Chombo feels right now because she is still in the company of the people that are slandered? Often times, people wait to see how others would react, and then jump onto the bandwagon. Many Chombo fans began to express their anger and frustration after they realised that many others had posted their views on social media. This is what mob psychology does. Individuals tend to behave in a different manner as part of a group in contracts to acting independently. How many among those who were fuming on social media, would do the same if given an opportunity to face Miss World organisers? I bet they would still express their disappointment, but I cannot imagine them expressing the profanities they did behind the mask of social media. Mob psychology dictates that members of a group are prone to acting in ways that they would deem immoral or unjust if in control of their behavior. This, according to experts is not due to change in one’s belief or principle, but rather the fact that individuals tend to ignore or avoid one’s conscience or rational judgment. It is common for individuals in a group to take upon the identity of the group. They are therefore, likely to commit acts that they would never commit alone. It is easier to do something especially something negative in a group, because a group allows individuals to defer blame, responsibility, accountability, and or judgment upon the group.