Skip to main content

THE OTHER FACE OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA




            I have no doubts about the manifold benefits which have come to all of us due to the evolution of social media in the recent time. It has become a great blessing, because it helps us not only to share information, but also to break various types of walls that have divided the humanity into uncompromising and distrusting fragments.

          However, a recent incident has provoked me to direct my thoughts towards the damaging impact of social media on individuals and society.

MUSLIM GIRL WAS BURNT ALLIVE AFTER PROPOSING TO A HINDU YOUTH
            It all began when a video clip that proliferated through a social media app came to our friends circle. The discussion became very hot when the above-mentioned title became its central topic. Explanation followed soon, and it was surmised that the event took place in Andhra Pradesh. Gruesome details followed. It was further alleged that the relatives and neighbors of the Muslim girl burnt her alive for proposing to a Hindu youth. I was coerced to watch the video, as the name of Andhra Pradesh evinced my interest, for I had lived 15 years of my life there.
            The graphic of the video was quite disturbing and it left me shocked and shattered. However, in a moment I recovered from my numbness, and began to apply reason. The first thing that came to my mind was the dress code of the woman who was burnt alive. The woman in the video wore black T shirt and blue shorts, the second of which is highly unlikely for a woman in public in Andhra Pradesh.
            
          Following this, I made a serious enquiry into the incident. The inquiry revealed that the video in question belonged to an event in Guatemala where a 16 year old girl was burnt alive by an irate mob. She was accused to be a part of a gang that killed many people, and the mob showered its uncontrolled anger on the girl who was in a helpless situation. Read more details.
            This is not the only example of its kind which involves misrepresentation of facts on social media. At times, misrepresentation of fact takes place due to shear ignorance of man. But never to forget is the fact that there are many unholy elements that intentionally misrepresent facts to gain undue advantages.
            This incident cannot leave us without teaching some of the much needed lessons to handle social media. Out relation with social media should be built on the foundation of reality and rationality. What appears in front of us is a matter of perspective, and it is our bounden duty to inquire into the reality and rationality of it from all the corners, before establishing an emotional attachment to it. It is all about whether you want to become the master of social media or end up as a victim of social media.

Comments

  1. Anonymous20 June 2015 at 04:57

    This is a must-read for everyone.

    ReplyDelete
  2. TAACHAL20 June 2015 at 04:58

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. TAACHAL20 June 2015 at 05:16

    It is a question whether one wants to become a master of social media or ends up as a slave of it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. kumar20 June 2015 at 22:12

    When information is strewn as hay, people tend to post or share the message very quickly in order to show the world that they did it first. Our news channels too are to be blamed for getting into microsecond racing. People have to be responsible to dive into the depths of the news to actually find out what the problem is. Or else, there would be frenzied chaos all around.

    ReplyDelete
  5. TAACHAL24 June 2015 at 18:06

    Thanks Author Kumar for your valuable comment. In fact, many of the big troubles in the current world come from misinterpretation of ideas and events. At present,other than self-guidance, there in no other mechanism to control it.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

EXODUS: FROM PARTITION TO PANDEMIC

Anyone who takes an impartial view of historical events cannot ever question the genuinity of suffering inflicted by the mass exodus during the partition of the subcontinent in 1947. Records variously mention about 10 to 12 million people as affected by the gruesome man-made tragedy in the recent history which was, however, unavoidable. Both India and Pakistan, in one way or another, washed their hands off the responsibility of the human tragedy, because there was a third player who could be held responsible for the cold-blooded acts of murder committed during the partition in 1947. After seven decades of this gruesome  man-made  tragedy. we are witnessing a mass exodus of the scale that cannot have a parallel in the recent history, save the exodus during partition. But, if we feign ignorance about it, or a section of media underplays it as irrelevant, or a section of the political  establishment bypasses it as a political conspiracy, it cannot stand to the tes...
Post a Comment
Read more

SELF-RELIANT INDIA: PROS AND CONS

Self-reliance or to depend on oneself as an idea can become self-contradictory, if we do not shelve into the pros and cons of it, before eulogising it as a matter of policy. No doubt, self-reliance is one of the many factors that determine the status, dignity and respect of a nation among the family of nations-states in the world. A nation that is not self-reliant cannot partake in international relations as an equal partner. Under such situations an unequal trade deal can be imposed on a nation that by circumstances cannot afford to resist it due to lack of self sufficiency. BUY BOOKS OF TAACHAL ONLINE The proponents of self-reliance should also remember that this idea has not fallen on the Earth all on a sudden in the year 2020. India during its plan period generally and during the Fifth Five Year plan period particularly emphasized on self-reliance as a prime policy to ensure self respect to India. Under such an initiative. large scale industries were established to cure India of i...
Post a Comment
Read more

1984 SIKH GENOCIDE: RELlGIOUS BIGOTRY OR ECONOMIC FALLOUT?

" It is painful to recollect the events that followed the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984. The Sikh genocide of 1984, as it is called, however, is a subject of controversy, especially due to  the different dimensions in the conflict. The media and the contemporary literature widely referred to it as a shocking upsurge of religious bigotry because we are habituated to look at the events through a narrow and faulty vision which has been gifted to us by those intellectuals with long-dead colonial mindset. In this regard the book "What after Modi Sarkar?" comes up with new bold revealations. The author points out at the economic imbalance in the aflected areas, especially in upmarket areas of various cities, where the Sikh community maintained a willfully sustained economic imperialism. The corresponding deprivation felt by the rest of the communities powered the event in 1984. In fact, it was an event waiting to happen and the assassination of Indira Gan...
Post a Comment
Read more