By Isaac Chol Aguer
Building on the discussion of digital platforms misused for hate speech, this article explores a darker corner of online culture.
In a country worn down by exhaustion, where life feels suffocatingly narrow, people now hunt for anything to amuse themselves—even if it means laughing at someone else’s slip-up.
A student blanking on a word mid-sentence, a young woman stumbling through an interview, a man tripping on the street… these small moments turn into virais clips that spread like wildfire. People race to share them, laughing at the expense of others.
Facebook, TikTok, and WhatsApp have become giant stages for ridiculing human mistakes. In a place starved of real entertainment, some find their fun not in lifting others up, but in laughing at those who fall.
Even those without proper internet—stuck with “Facebook Zero”, that bare-bones version showing no photos or videos—linger on the streets of Juba, waiting to pounce on anyone who trips or fumbles their words, turning stumbles into stories for cheap laughs.
It’s like everyone’s sitting at vast café (Mahel Shai—not drinking tea) but waiting for someone to fall so they can point and laugh.
We’ve all forgotten that anyone can stumble. Every one of us has had moments where we wished the earth would swallow us whole. So why show no mercy? Why break the already shy and smirk at the vulnerable?
Truth is: When we can’t find our own success, we settle for someone else’s failure. A society that amuses itself by watching its own people fall is one that needs to rethink its soul.
Real upbringing means teaching our kids to cheer for their friends’ wins and to help those who trip—not mock them. That emptiness inside? It won’t be filled by laughing at others… only by finding something that adds real meaning to your life.
In the end, we shouldn’t laugh at people—we should laugh with them… but only when there’s something actually worth laughing about.
And to everyone who’s ever slipped up in public, whose tongue tied itself in knots, or who took a spill on the sidewalk—don’t sweat it.
A stumble may steady your step. Every trip-up is just another lesson… except the ones that trip up an entire nation. Some stumbles can’t be forgiven.