Fake Social Media Wedding Photo Causes Major Stir

Social media is an avenue to share a lot of things, like information, product and the most use is to show a life you do not have. There are a lot of stalkers on social media who are self-appointed monitoring spirits, checking one’s every post.

In Kinshasa, to buttress these points, a mutual friend took a picture of two individuals who attended a wedding and posted on Facebook and the post spread like wildfire. After the picture was shared, there were comments and likes on Facebook and calls from hundreds of friends to get more details on the couple’s supposed wedding because everyone concluded they were married.

Apparently, in the picture, they donned the same fabric which was perhaps because they were close friends with the couple whose wedding they had attended.

They found it amusing and decided to engage in more mischief. The supposed couple went further and posted on the special seat meant for the couple who had gotten married and took another picture. This time they shared it on another friend’s Facebook page and hours after that, they each got hundreds of calls from friends some of which they had not spoken to in years.

The reality is that people lap up every information online and believe whatever they see without confirming the truth.

The lady in the fake wedding photo, Arlene Agneroh is a single woman who is accomplished but does not have it all according to the society she lives in because she is not married.

Mr Mwema Ngandu, 32, the man who she took the picture with agrees that taking the second picture was a plan knowing it will “create a buzz”, he said, “when we took the second picture, it was carefully planned”.

“In these times of fake news, people believe everything they see online,” he said, adding that he wanted to make people think more carefully about what they see and read on social media.

“It’s a cultural thing too. Here [in Kinshasa] everyone knows about your personal life and it’s got worse with social media,” he said.

“Sometimes it’s entertaining but it can also be harmful.”

The fake wedding photo people believed was then an evidence that Ms Agneroh was fully fulfilled.

In a long post, she wrote: “These picture show two young people photographed by their friends, with no comment or allusion to marriage but that’s what you all chose to interpret.

“Without even asking any questions, you’ve shared the picture, creating your own little story. Thanks to you, I’ve started compiling a list of guests for my wedding!

“But for now, those who’ve wanted to seduce me and but were always afraid, here’s my message: I’m still on the market but not focused on finding a husband.

“So be patient… The lesson to learn is think before you act and look for context. A picture itself is never the full story.”

On social media, most people are stirred by pictures showing an achievement. It draws more attention, comments and likes. People from then on want to associate with you even if they are all false.

This is the world we live in. A world of doctored pictures.