The world is moving so fast, and new media have tremendously conquered majority’s people attention, as they access information in the comfort of their own smartphones.

Tanzania is one of the Sub-Saharan countries that has been doing quite great when it comes to the use of social media.

And this is due to the increase in smartphones and internet service users in the country.

According to TCRA’s 2021 report internet users have increased whereby June, 29 million people were registered which is equivalent to 49% of Tanza­nians.

These social media are not only just for communicational channels, but are significant opportunity in today’s world to grow the economy of the indi­viduals and the country as a whole if used properly.

Despite having a large number of users of internet and smartphone ser­vices, the use of social media has con­tinued to be a major mystery for many Tanzanians.

There are those who have been using social media in the right way, particu­larly for commercial, professional and educational purposes and those who have been using in adverse manner.

And unfortunately, those spotted with improper use are the majority today.

Over a close scrutiny, in recent years, there has been a resurgence of cyber­crimes, impersonation, dissemination of erotic content (nudity and abusive language) and cyberbullying.

This indicates that there is still a lot of work to be done due to the presence of a large group of Tanzanians who do not know how to use social media for profit.

It should be noted that the misuse of social media has a profound effect on the well-being of the present and future society as the content posted on these platforms last for generations.

In light of this, TCRA has decided to come up with an ambitious campaign called “Sambaza Mchongo na Sio Uon­go” whose main goal is to control the increasing incidents on social media in a way that would change people’s perceptions about the use of these plat­forms.

According to the TCRA’s Director General, Dr. Jabiri Bakari, the campaign was launched several weeks ago as part of its efforts to address the trending cyber woes that have been emotionally torturing many people.

TCRA, on the other hand, aims to open up about how can the likes of those social platforms be economical through the campaign as part of pro­moting the appropriate use of the social media which are popular with thou­sands of people in the country.

“This campaign is huge and carries four main messages which are; the dissemination of false information, impersonation, dissemination of nude photo/videos and cyber bullying,” explains Dr. Bakari, who stated that the campaign will split the messages into two sessions (each goes up to three weeks).

According to Dr. Bakari, the first ses­sion, which starts in November, will entail the first two messages of dissem­ination of false information and imper­sonation for personal gain and notifies that they have already started circulat­ing messages across media outlets.

The following session, will carry along the next two key messages of dis­semination of nude photo/videos and cyber bullying.

“We will make sure that we make the most of different celebrities in the com­munity, influencers, and testimonials along with the media, who will raise their voices regarding the appropriate use of social media,” further explains Dr Bakari who added that is an inte­gral part of ensuring social media plat­forms become an opportunity and a safe cyber space.

In another angle, Dr. Bakari’s belief is that this campaign will be successful with the full cooperation of all stake­holders in the telecommunications sector and not just TCRA itself.

Testimonials

Case 1

Veronica Kundya, a network market­ing specialist, is one of the few women entrepreneurs who have complete­ly changed their lives through such endeavors.

A mother of two and wife. She is also a Computer Science graduate at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM).

Her career began while at the insti­tution, initially was influenced by her close pal before later her attendance to one of the network marketing work­shops becoming the frost on cake.

“At first glance, when I started, I nev­er had a thought of self-employment. I was as the same as any other guy with ambition to be employed right after graduating his/her studies,” explains Veronica.

“From the outset, I was nothing but paranoid, diffident, and badly that was giggled at by few, and the fact that even my parents could not understand me, I cried down for the dissatisfactory busi­ness trend.

Luckily, I was surrounded by brave hearted people, who would always stand by my side for consolation, and that was turning point as I doubled my efforts to only enabling me start earn­ing Sh3 million per month as income,” She hints.

Veronica opens up that all have been possible because of using social media for profit.

“In order to be successful in using the social media for profit, you must have goals and be surrounded by peo­ple who drive you to achieve the goal,” explains Veronica who currently gets 2000 new followers per month online.

Veronica is currently a well-known online weight loss products entrepre­neur who has also been able to change the lives of many other Tanzanians through her business. She elucidates that through her business, she can now reach global markets without having physical shop.

Case 2

Philip Mbonde is a cake baking entrepreneur for wedding ceremonies, birthdays and other events.

Shortly after graduating from the Mwalimu Nyerere Memorial Academy (MNMA), Dar es Salaam considered becoming self-employed and since cake making was his passion, it was easy to start a cake business.

In 2009, a time when Facebook was the talk of the world, Mbonde used it to post his cake products online.

“At the time, I posted my products online for only sharing with my clos­est people on my fondness of cake and nothing more,” explains Mbonde.

He says as time went on, as a result of posting his cakes online, people started showing demand and from that point, it all changed his mind and he began using social media for commercial ben­efits.

“The advent of the Instagram plat­form has helped increase my followers who I believe are also customers and it is this medium that is easily accessi­ble to many people unlike the rest,” he explains further.

Mbonde admits that the appropriate use of social media has been key secret to his success story and now his busi­ness levitates as he caters for diverse market segments via social media channels.

“If you are surrounded by people who have no goals, who only value their lives than anything potential, then you are stuck in a way towards major move,” believes Mbonde.