Wi-fi connection.
The whole idea behind people communicating is to express opinions. From the time Gutenberg invented the Printing Press, people have been vocal in their views and opinions. In the present time, social media has become a powerful tool to express the common man’s view point. Social networking sites, blogs, internet forums, opinion sites are in vogue and more sought after. With the onset of multiple options in social media, people are becoming more tech-savvy and are finding forums to express their views and opinions.
Michael Jackson’s death was a hot topic of discussion for quite a while. As soon as news of his death spread, the internet was flooded with search queries which led to a temporary shutdown of all the major social networking sites. Twitter, the micro blogging site, found the ‘tweets’ getting doubled with every passing second because of the innumerable tributes flowing from celebrities and fans. Rumours were rife that MJ was pulling up a prank and planning to make a comeback. On Youtube, thousands posted videos about their feelings and opinions about the legendary king of pop. His best selling album ‘Thriller’ took the number one position in iTunes within a few hours of his death. This form of hysteria was at par with the recent U.S presidential election where Barrack Obama made history on that occasion. A major chunk of his victory is attributed to his online campaign which helped him to connect with the masses.
Closer to our homeland, the racist attacks on Indians in Australia saw a surge in online protests condemning the attacks. Online communities demanding justice for the Indian students were set up in Facebook and Orkut social networking sites with over thousands members joining them within a week. A recent instance of the use of this aforementioned media was when a blogger created a buzz on the eve of Valentine’s Day with the ‘Pink –Chaddi’ campaign against the Ram Sena. This campaign vented out revenge on the moral policing of attacking and thrashing girls in a Mangalore pub. This campaign started as a group on Facebook and reached mercurial proportions with pink underwear flowing in from all parts of India. Though this sounds amusing but the right chord was struck against the atrocities caused to young women in the name of Indian culture.
The humourous "Pink Chaddi" logo
On similar lines, a great furore was generated when the parties during the fifteenth Lok Sabha elections made extensive use of internet and mobile technologies. It was a cue taken from the successful presidential campaign of Obama. Party’s manifestoes were available on the websites for the technically inclined crowd. But one of the most successful campaign was the ‘Jaago re’ campaign, targeted at the urban youth mainly students and corporates in 35 cities across India urging them to register and use their fundamental right to franchise and elect a stable government.
Public opinion through these sites are making or breaking brands and products. People freely let out their opinions, frustrations and reviews be it the newest gadget or a recently released movie. A huge chunk of revenue is normally plugged in for online promotions in social media targeting the ever-growing netizens.
Even though the biggest benefit of online networking is that it comes for free, but it has its own share of disadvantages. Even though public opinion is generated it can be diverted also. Recently, after the death of MJ hoaxes made the rounds that Britney Spears, George Clooney, Jeff Goldblum and Harrison Ford were also dead. There have been also instances when brands hired ‘sock puppet’ to elougize their products thus misleading the consumers. Sometimes it also becomes monotonous to become a part of so many causes and getting bombarded with requests to join communities in the social networking sites.
Social media is a medium that comes with its own list of opportunities and risks. As users of this medium, we should not exploit it instead we should make it a powerful platform to voice our fundamental rights as well as of the underprivileged people who do not have access to such privileges. There are no hard and fast rules to go by which marks the beauty and prevalence of social media in the future also. With revenues being generated in this medium in the form of advertisements, and getting the latest ‘feeds’ and ‘tweets’ in the privacy of our mobile phone , this fad is certainly going to last for a while.
