Think about the worst piece of news that you’ve ever gotten. Now, think about how it was delivered to you. How did the person or people breaking the news speak to you? What were they wearing? Was it sunny outside? Did that make you feel even more alone and isolated?

Now, take all those memories, throw them away and imagine that you found out the news that changed your life forever through a Facebook post or, even worse, a short TikTok video.

You might think I’m exaggerating but a TikTok video is how the families of Ali Abbas and Faizan Muhammad found out that their loved ones were dead in a traffic accident in Mosta last week, with reports stating they were not contacted directly by the authorities. The problem is that this was not a one-off but a recurring state of events.

When a lorry overturned on food delivery driver Ajay Shrestha last year, his family too found out about his death through Facebook. And this horrific way for families to receive information isn’t just relegated to the tragedies happening to foreigners where it may be harder to find out who their next of kin is either.

I recently spoke to a friend who was horrified and heartbroken to hear that a family member had died in tragic circumstances through social media. The victim’s own mother, brothers and sisters only found out when they saw his death reported on the news. Deaths can be traumatic enough, whether expected or not; however, finding out when the rest of the world does, with no support at all, gives people even less opportunity to get closure.

Much like everything else in this country, we are just expected to toughen up, shut up and not complain, regardless of how badly or inappropriately things are done.

Kind words do not cost much, yet they accomplish more than we can imagine- Anna Marie Galea

What this all boils down to is a lack of sensitivity and, in some cases, laziness. It also shows how behind we are when understanding how social media and society are evolving or, rather, devolving.

It’s a sad but awful truth that many would nowadays rather take out their phone and take a photo of an accident for the ghouls lurking in their feed to feast on than either lend a helping hand or at least keep their phones in their pockets, which means that the authorities need to get a lot better at informing the families of victims before the rest of the world does.

You can’t have case after case where families aren’t informed in a timely manner and have to get all their information complete with awful captions from third parties.

Looking at events like these, as well as things happening in our own courts, continue to show that we have a long way to go when it comes to understanding mental health and our own part in making the world just a little better for everyone around us.

The next time you witness an accident, put your phone away and if you’re in a position where you must break horrific news to a family, perhaps do that immediately. Ask yourself what you would do if it were your father or brother.

Kind words do not cost much, yet, they accomplish more than we can imagine.