The author Teju Cole, who grew up in Nigeria, uses Twitter to eulogize random citizens, which he calls small fates:
Each small fate is complete in itself. It needs neither elaboration nor sequel. The small fates, I feel, bring news of a Nigerian modernity, full of conflict, tragedies, and narrow escapes. Similar to the French papers’ fait divers, they work in part because whatever that strange thing was, it didn’t happen to us. They are the destiny that befell some other poor soul, which we experience from a grateful distance.
How Matt Pearce reconciles his own guilt in enjoying the project:
It’s like the contradiction of liking animals but eating meat. At some point, eating a hamburger means that you’ve either chosen to ignore what’s happened to the cow or you’ve considered it logically and coldly approved it. To find pleasure in reading about any real suffering is either to ignore reality or to — perhaps even worse — rationally justify doing so. … Cole’s giving them their 140 characters of fame, and unless he finds some hidden way to take the suffering out of this world, I wouldn’t have him stop.
The Dish 
