Tag: facebook

Categories
Overdose

Please stop ‘following on’

It is time to unplug the noise in the virtual space, before we all lose whatever original opinions we have.
Jatin Sharmaby Jatin Sharma | @jatiiin_sharma on Twitter

An ‘opinion’ is a pencil that sketches an individual’s mind map. Opinions are collectively responsible for seeding a society.

Let me use another metaphor to sum up what I want to say next: The jungle of opinions is currently being deforested. Sure, that sounds pompous and pretentious. But that’s what most of us have become.

Today, every individual – you included – is going through an information overdose. Look around you: whether it is the number of TV channels, YouTube videos, films or the number of posts on Facebook and Twitter, as a person active in the digital space, you are exposed to at least 250 communication messages a day, or even more.

You are constantly on your phone and you are watching the world every minute of the day. But this constant hammering of communication from the world has taken away our personal time from us.

Even our opinions are increasingly being diluted, due to the several messages we constantly receive. Many conspiracy theories float around as ‘facts’ and we start to believe them as the truth. A moderately well-written post backed by the wrong statistics makes us gloss over its inaccuracies, so entranced are we by the presentation. Slowly and steadily, we are all ‘following on’ the moment something goes viral on the Internet.

An opinion different from the others’, a video that is being circulated widely, anything that is even slightly ‘hatke‘ makes us align our opinions to go with the popular flow. We are extremely quick to jump on to the bandwagon, without asking the most important question of all: ‘What for?’

Take the ‘Je suis Charlie’ movement, for example. When it was launched in France, all the so-called ‘intellectuals’ in India changed their statuses on social media to ‘Je suis Charlie’. That is totallyChanging opinions 1 allowed, but how many of us asked some tough questions, told the Government to back off when the AIB roast got roasted? Most people I know, who had laughed heartily while watching the roast videos, later changed their opinion when actor Aamir Khan decided to term it as ‘violent’. And I don’t see any ‘Je suis Avijit’ posts following the killing of atheist blogger Avijit Roy in Bangladesh, either.

We are changing our opinions not just to align with what’s popular, but with what’s crueller, too. If what we say and write seeks to mock, to wound another (a case in point is how so many men, under the guise of humour, attack feminists in the crudest ways). There are still many more of us who will state the obvious (such as ‘We must respect animals!’) merely to get ‘Likes’ on Facebook. Our opinions, if we can in fact call them that, constantly swing from one side to the next, before finally settling on the majority’s opinion. The worst is, we actually believe that the majority’s opinion is our own.

Your opinion, arrived at after thought and reasoning, is your own and it embodies your mental prowess and maturity. But we are content to be swayed. And somehow social media and such an overdose of media in our life is draining us of our

It needs to be said, people: It’s time to unplug.

Jatin Sharma is a media professional who doesn’t want to grow up, because if he grows up, he will be like everybody else. ‘Overdose’ is Jatin’s take on Mumbai’s quirks and quibbles.

Categories
Tech

Coming soon: A digital explosion

The Internet is truly set to explode, with number of connections in India expected to surpass 380 million by 2017.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Our country is truly a haven for Internet service providers. Not only do we have a staggering number of existing connections, we are set to have about 35 per cent more in four years.

As per a report compiled by YES Bank in association with ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India) titled Driving Growth in New Media, “Growing at a compounded annual growth rate of about 35 per cent, the total number of Internet connections in India is expected to surpass 380 million by year 2017, from the current level of 168 million.”

The report attributes this phenomenon to “the mobile revolution [that] is being spearheaded by increasing sales of mobile devices and smartphones, as well as the rapid adoption of Android and 3G services.  Soon to be launched technologies such as 4G will allow mobile phone users to surf the Internet, video conference, download music, video and other content at a rate several times faster than 3G services.  It will offer services such as high-definition mobile TV and video conferencing, super-fast access to high definition (HD) video streaming, multiple chatting, instant uploading of photos and much more – all of which should further fuel the growth of mobile adoption and media consumption.”

The study further reveals that wireless connections will comprise nearly 90 per cent of all connections added over 2012-17.  “There are over 1 billion users worldwide on sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google+.  As per the data, the number of social media users in urban India reached 62 million by December 2012, and it is estimated to reach 66 million by June 2013,” the study says.

These audiences largely consist of the youth segment and it is no surprise then, that digital advertising is capturing a larger share of ad spends.  Given the cost effectiveness of this medium in reaching the target segment and the increased measurability offered – companies are allocating increasing amounts of their ad budgets for the digital medium, points out the study.

The recent explosion of social media platforms has been their gradual adoption by content creators. Social Media is fast being recognised as a powerful brand management tool for targeted engagements with the consumer and is an essential marketing tool which provides valuable feedback mechanisms.

With its low cost and increasing adoption by the youth, content creators can engage and develop relationships with the younger audience while marketing content more effectively. These innovative content delivery mechanisms enable content to generate incremental digital revenue streams.

Additionally, a lot of popular film songs and scenes are now released first over the Internet medium as a teaser campaign. “Content creators are leveraging upon the interest garnered from pre-release social media campaigns to not only generate word-of-mouth publicity but also to use the traction and hype generated as a bargaining tool for better realisations from music, satellite, distribution and other ancillary revenues streams,” adds the study.

(Picture courtesy crackingtipsntricks.blogspot.com) 

Categories
Patrakar types

“You paid media dogs!”

It is the age of the instant response – and the age of the crudest name-calling against mediapersons and celebrities. We are so quick to take offence at the media commenting on things that affect us, that we resort to shooting the messenger instead of debating the message.
by Vrushali Lad | vrushali@themetrognome.in

Two days ago, we ran a story on how traders in Thane and Pune had all but called off their agitation against the LBT after Sharad Pawar’s intervention, and how traders in Mumbai were about to follow suit. See the story here.

We’d got quotes from Viren Shah, President of the FRTWA, who was part of the delegation that met Sharad Pawar on Sunday at the latter’s residence. We had excerpts from the press note that the FRTWA later issued, outlining the points discussed. Viren Shah even went on record to say that, “The FRTWA is against the LBT but our retailers will not down shutters. Business will go on as usual while the protest is on.” The story went live on Sunday evening, and Monday’s newspapers carried the same news with varying degrees of detail.

But on Twitter, at least five tweeters called us several names, the substance of their remarks being that we, like other media outlets in the country, were “paid media dogs” who were bribed by the Congress to spread rumours. “Pls do not spread rumours. Do u have a signed letter to confirm this?” asked one, the mildest of the lot, while another tweeted, “chal jhota, congress ne paisa diya hai kya rumours felane ka? #PAIDMEDIA #LBT” with an entertaining cartoon showing the Congress scamming everyone in sight. A little digging by our social media team found that this latter guy had been on a name-calling spree all afternoon, tweeting at every mediaperson on Twitter and calling them all #PAIDMEDIA. Some of these luminaries included journalists Rajdeep Sardesai and Barkha Dutt.

I wonder if people really understand what this ‘paid media’ thing really is, though all and sundry use this phrase as freely as they use public streets as their personal dustbin. I always imagine this paid media business to be a situation where somebody comes to a media office with bags of money, plonks them on the editor’s desk and says, “There, I paid you. Now write nice things about me.”

I’m not saying things don’t necessarily pan out like that, either.

In recent times, we’ve been seeing a growing tendency in the country to take offence at everything. And, not content to merely take offence, we’re outraging all day about things that, in hindsight, were meant as a joke, albeit a not so funny one. Some of us are so outraged, we form packs of similarly-outraged persons and attack the offender all day.

Recently, a sarcastic tweet from stand-up comic Rohan Joshi, who was responding to a self-proclaimed feminist who’d accused him of being a male chauvinist, took up the Twitterati’s time for an entire day. And he wasn’t even being a chauvinist. A Firstpost.com article about how a new initiative to provide leftover food from one’s lunchbox to starving slum and street children was most likely a sham, prompted all and sundry to address the article’s writer with every possible swear word known to mankind, even as they jeered at his cynicism and asked how much money he’d been paid to write that piece.

And there’s no point responding, if you’re the writer of a particularly controversial piece, to such name-calling and trying to explain your point of view. Any such attempt only results in a bigger barrage of insults.

We didn’t know this a few years ago, safely insulated as we were in our print media offices and our TV channel stations, how much hatred there was out there. Then the media’s working changed, to the extent that every bit of news and information put out there is compatible on all forums, most significantly, the web. And the Internet doesn’t do a very good job protecting us from instant, biting feedback the way other media can. Sure, there are such things as comment moderation tools, but what does one do when an article also has Facebook-enabled comments? Who’s going to disable Facebook?

Does this hate stem from the genuine fury consumers feel at seemingly important issues not being covered by the news media? The LBT strike, for instance, is over 25 days old, but apart from snippets on how closed shops are inconveniencing the public, has there been an in-depth piece on the issue by the electronic media? Even on Sunday, as trader organisations decided to suspend hostilities for a few days, news channels continued screaming headlines about one more player arrested in the IPL spot-fixing scam. Not a single LBT-related story surfaced at all that evening.

Or could a part of this hate be attributed to the clout the big media players enjoy, of being able to function well despite its consumers not liking most of the content they put out there daily? In another business, for example, if people don’t like your product, you’re going to either take their feedback on board or shut shop. This doesn’t happen with say, The Times of India, which gets roundly criticised every single day for having more ads than news, or for biased reporting, or for peddling advertorials as news items. The TOI continues to function, and function well. Is that enough to make people so resentful that they start calling the TOI names and tell it to go to jump off a cliff?

Or is it as simple as a lack of manners, of good breeding? Sensible people, when debating a point, argue with the person’s point of view. They don’t tell the person to his face that he is a jackass, or worse. In my eyes, you have to be totally moronic to say a person is a prostitute who sleeps around with Congress politicians and writes against the BJP, when what you really wanted to say was that the writer’s views had hurt their own and they begged to differ. Say what you wanted to say, don’t get into needless side issues about a person’s parentage or background or tendency to take bribes. Apart from being moronic, it is an unnecessary exercise in wasting time when, instead of debating the message, we shoot the messenger over and over again. Tell people they are wrong, certainly, but remember that you don’t really have the right to do so. A point of view is never right or wrong; it may be contrary or controversial.

And besides, how brave would you be if you had to say half those things to the mediaperson’s face, and not from behind your computer or phone’s screen?

Vrushali Lad is a freelance journalist who has spent years pitching story ideas to reluctant editors. Once, she even got hired while doing so. 

(Pictures courtesy blogs.reuters.com, mag.bewakoof.com, pastorchrisowens.wordpress.com, www.sodahead.com)

Categories
Overdose

Feel the like

Jatin Sharma writes about how social networking has helped us endlessly ‘connect’ to virtual worlds while ignoring the real one.

We are the Internet generation. We are the generation of gadgets, of tablets and social networking sites. We are the Facebookers and the Twitterati. We are the people who are lost in the virtual world.

The world is closing in and our emotions are shutting down. Thanks to the virtual world, we have changed the basic definition of emotion. Earlier, an emotion used to be a feeling, now it has become a message on the wall. Earlier, birthdays used to be a celebration, now they have become a reminder of an event in our phones. Earlier, the world and being social in it was a real activity, now it has turned into one big facade.

Look at photographs; how they were all about memories and capturing a particular time. Now, photographs are judged on the basis of whether they are FB-worthy or whether they will get minimum 50 likes. The human mind is now full of unnecessary information as we have started demeaning our lives. We are becoming slaves to technology and our emotions, or the showing of them, have become a formality.

It seems quite funny to me when people prefer to Skype or chat on FB for about 10 years, and tell each other that they have been in constant ‘touch’ for so long. Ipso facto they may have met just once. Even when it comes to relationships and love affairs, people like to announce them as their relationship status. One fight and the status becomes complicated; and if the matter gets more serious, the boyfriend or the girlfriend gets to know of it on Facebook where the girl’s/boy’s friends have like the update of ‘XYZ changed their relationship status from ‘It’s complicated’ to ‘Single’.

Our emotions have become so frail in today’s times. People form an opinion, then mentally compose a clever line in order to be able to tweet about a trending topic and get as many retweets as possible. Our speech is no more about putting our thoughts into words, it’s all about getting ‘likes’ and retweets and being ‘favourited’.

We are so engrossed in this virtual world that even when we are out with our friends, we are glued to our smart phones. We are becoming ‘virtual Mayors’ of markets and restaurants, and are Whatsapping and putting out our current activities as our status messages. The whole joy of socialising is not about meeting people anymore. In fact, social networking sites should also get a Nobel Peace Prize, for the outcome of most of our fights is now decided by ‘unfriending’ or ‘blocking’ or ‘unfollowing’ a person. These are now considered to be a very fierce punishments in social networking.

Our minds are completely lost in this virtual jungle. And we are not realising that this is slowly and steadily going to ruin our basic human interactions. We all need to feel, touch and hear words in order to survive. Depression is on the rise in the world and I strongly feel that the Internet is responsible for it. The little joys of life are the ones where you can actually feel them. Don’t dedicate yourself to social networking sites. Life is much more than that which exists inside your phone or computer. For once, try to liberate yourself and be a human being. Meet people, don’t ‘poke’ them. Spend some quality time, don’t get hynotised by your phone screen. Feel like a human being. Speak, don’t just type. Feel the like, don’t just click on LIKE.

Jatin Sharma is a media professional who doesn’t want to grow up, because if he grows up, he will be like everybody else.

Categories
Overdose

The killing of a poster boy

Jatin Sharma wonders if Afzal Guru was really a terrorist, or yet another name in a disenchanted Valley. Or both.

Before reading this column, I have a request to make of you.

I request all of you to junk all the images that you have in mind, shed all your preconceived notions that have been served by the media, remove all the biases and the prejudices that you may have developed over the years.

Be untainted by the ‘truths’ of the world, unmoved by the emotions that the media has garnered and for the next few minutes, think that you are in an ideal world.

Now that your mind is sufficiently cleared of your personal feelings, read on.

Centuries ago, the world was divided into kingdoms. India was a land that was akin to a sone ki chidiya. See, already I can feel the pride that you are feeling right now. Your chin went up by an angle of 10 degrees, and you just inflated your chest. But the truth is, the time when India was the fabled golden sparrow, its people were still ailing. The people had no food and were constantly at the mercy of their kings. While the kings fought wars once in a while to double or safeguard their riches, the common man fought every day for food and other necessities. Whenever the king was challenged by a common man, either that man was sent to confinement or was silenced forever. His crime? Disrespecting the king.

Centuries later, the world is divided into countries. India is a land known as an ‘upcoming superpower’. There, I can feel the pride that you are feeling right now. Your chin went up by an angle of 10 degrees, and you just inflated your chest. But the truth is, that while India is an upcoming superpower, its people are still ailing. The people don’t have the freedom to express themselves (writing a blog is not something major, and even this column is not that big a change) and live a life where they are not at the mercy of the police, the bureaucrats and the politicians. While the politicians are letting us protest over lesser issues (like rape, as no politician is involved in that high-profile case; Lokpal, as they know a Bill will only be passed with their consent or a diesel-petrol hike, because they know they will decrease 50 paise and all will be well); the common man is fighting every day to be heard. Whenever the government is challenged by a common man, either that man is tagged as a threat to the nation, or a terrorist, or a Maowadi.

There are hundreds and thousands of stories of oppression on the people, by the people in power. We fear FIRs, as we fear that we would be tortured instead of the culprit. We fear going to politicians as they will tell us to shell out money or leave the matter like it is. We fear questioning bureaucrats because they know that they can’t be replaced till the time that they decide to retire. We fear the election process because we are afraid of the gallery of dacoits we have to choose from.

Are we really free then? Are we really an awesome country, if our ‘safe’ blogs will just be discussed and dismissed? Are we a free country if till the time I follow what those in power want me to follow, I am safe? Are we a free country if the moment someone questions things, we term them terrorists?

Afzal Guru was hanged the same way that Kasab was. But the difference is that Afzal Guru was an educated man, an MBBS student who had surrendered to the BSF.

My point is: no amount of money can lure you to be a traitor unless there is a long pending issue that the Government has ignored for long. No amount of money can force you to insult your motherland unless the kings of democracy let people come out and hear them out without bias. Look at Kashmir – more than anything else, the issue is now an ego tussle between two nations, with the Kashmiris suffering in between. They are hostile, yes, but so is the Government. Right now the people of Kashmir want to protest in the wake of Afzal Guru’s hanging. But the Government has imposed a curfew there, and jammed mobile networks, apart from cutting Internet lines.

When was the last time that people actually responsible for several crimes were brought to book? When two Indian soldiers were beheaded on the border, what did our powerful country do to those who beheaded them? Did our upcoming superpower nation book them in any manner? Forget anything else, were those involved in the beheadings even caught?

A Kashmiri all-girl rock band had to give up music because some idiot issued a fatwa in their name. The government failed then, too. The rape ordinance was passed, but one recommendation was not taken into consideration: that politicians who are rapists should not be able to contest elections. This recommendation was scrapped by the Government, while the rest were approved.

If you think about it, Afzal Guru the terrorist could have been Dr Afzal Guru, and he could have treated several patients in the Valley, but he didn’t. Why not? We should know the entire story before passing a judgement. We should acknowledge that Kashmir is burning every day. Right now they are going through a ban on Internet and mobile services, and not for the first time. How would you feel if that happened to you? To be reminded constantly that you are under somebody’s control, that you would be silenced if you don’t say what is not favourable to the one who controls you?

Terrorism and internal terrorism are two different issues. While terrorism can be tackled with power and force and killings, internal terrorism has to be tackled with love and tact. We rejoice Afzal Guru’s hanging because he was the poster boy for the Parliament attacks. But are we sure that no more Afzal Gurus will erupt from the Valley in the future? Did we really kill an attacker, or did we just kill another name?

I’m sure you’re a bit confused. But your confusion tells me that you are starting to think, and that is most important.

Don’t let the media or a few Facebook statuses and emotionally-charged tweets turn your mind. That is what the people in power want. They want you to be just a tool, a vote that is remembered only once in five years. Think and you start living every day.

Jatin Sharma is a media professional who says he doesn’t want to grow up, because if he grows up, he will be like everybody else.

(Picture courtesy indiatvnews.com)

Categories
Patrakar types

Palghar for President!

We’re glad Palghar is on the map, and for putting us all in our places through an innocent Facebook post.
by Vrushali Lad | vrushali@themetrognome.in

I am a little baffled. Since when did political parties log on to Facebook? And if they have been logging on, are their FBs different from ours? I ask because if I see a post I dislike or disagree with, I ignore it or say what I didn’t like about it. Just last week somebody posted a picture of Lady Gaga that I did not need to see. But my FB did not whisper to me to go the police against my friend for hurting my sentiments (and my eyes). May be that’s why I don’t understand politics – my FB wall is very lame.

What baffles me even more, and this is very patronising of me, is that it took Palghar, Thane district, Maharashtra, to put the issue of Internet checks and balances on the map. Little old smug city girl me has always believed that the country’s biggest movements would always originate from Mumbai or the other metros. Not that I’m complaining, of course – Palghar’s young ones haven’t exactly been treated well by the police and the political parties, what with two of them already arrested for posting content against the Shiv Sena, and a third in trouble for dissing Raj Thackeray on Facebook.

If I was a Palghar kid with access to Facebook, I would open several accounts and slang out every political party I know, just to see what happens. No, I am not about to do it, because I am not a Palghar kid (see what I did there?) I think I know what would happen – if you think intolerance towards criticism of their party or its chiefs is strictly a Shiv Sena or MNS thing, you’ve got another think coming.

I am very proud of Palghar. Palghar and its youngsters have shown us the way. In this day and age, it is not a mean achievement to have a Twitter hashtag created after your name, or to have people outrage over your arrest as they sip their coffee in their air-conditioned offices. The day the two girls were arrested, somebody created a fake Shaheen Dhada account as well.

Sure, some ignorant ones are still asking, “Hey, where IS Palghar?”, but they’re also ‘liking’ others’ call for support, aren’t they? And whether we remain unsure of Palghar’s geographical location or not, aren’t we all secretly thrilled that we can now write and post things with some impunity about the Party That Must Not Be Named, because we can cite those two girls every time somebody threatens us with arrest? Of course, we can’t keep shouting, “Shaheen Dhada! Rinu Srinivasan!” while a mob ransacks our office or clinic, but at least we now have something to shout out in our defence.

My vote of thanks goes to Palghar. For giving us a worthy event to include in this year’s list of exciting events. For shaking us out of our slumber, induced by some weird idea that nobody outside Mumbai has access to social media. For proving that the Shiv Sena, wherever it may be, is a delightfully predictable political party. And for its two young girls, for innocently saying the things that we were thinking but did not have the courage to think out loud for so long.

P.S.: Where is Palghar?

Vrushali Lad is a freelance journalist who has spent several years pitching story ideas to reluctant editors. Once, she even got hired while doing so.

(Picture courtesy jaimaharashtranews.com)

Exit mobile version