Head-less and Tail-less.

Crisp. This single five letter word evokes many feelings and pleasant sceneries within us, only upon dwelling though. It may be the delicious crunch of a packet of chips, the refreshing atmosphere surrounding us or one of the many letter-assortments availed to emphasize an individual’s character, to name a few. I will portray this word in a completely new light in this essay, as that in relation to the broad canvas spanned by cyber-borders and its ilk.

To initiate the discussion, let us take the case of Narendra Modi, the honourable Prime Minister of India. He ushered in a new paradigm of campaigning in the prelude to the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. Successfully wielding the weapon of social media, he lured the major demographic of India: the youth. That he won the election by a staggering margin is ample proof of what social media and in broader terms, what the Internet can do. The question being debated here is not the after-shocks of social media but the exploitation of the Internet to safeguard a land’s varied interests. Internet has propelled our database of mental information to sky-high limits. But of what use is data unless it is coupled with thorough understanding and an application oriented approach? Each of the above complements the other. Perusing through volumes of data, let it be of any kind, with the hindsight objective of applying it in practical situations will ultimately lead to perfect understanding of the data. Hence, it is a recursive cycle that is bound to benefit the scrutinizer.

Before the advent of social media, people relied on e-mails and faxes to relay information overseas. Communicating with relatives abroad set off explosions in expenses. Social media has blurred the lines of such communications. As always, any technological advancement is escorted by side-effects. Twitter and Facebook brought us into contact people whose faces or names we have never seen or heard, or would see or hear in the near future. We share our experiences with unknown people on the Internet, recount tales of joy and agony, aggressively market our views on political, cultural, legal and other aspects of our own nation and comment on the above-said aspects of their nation. I am fairly sure you are aware of where all this will lead to, if you do not tread carefully.

Of the above mentioned, I will take into consideration to the third aspect, that of expressing views on our land. Let me cover the political angle first. We have repeatedly heard the saying ‘The grass is always greener on the other side’. Supposing you are a citizen of the nation ‘X’. You tune into the news channel and see the results of the polls of the nation ‘Y’. Intrigued by the results, you open your MacBook Air to research on the methodology of elections of ‘Y’. Et Voila! The familiar feeling of déjà vu occurs. You feel that the method employed by X to conduct elections pales in comparison to that employed by Y. As you delve further into your research, your initial feeling begins to gain a stronger foothold in the recesses of your brain. The frustration and the need for a change pushes you to tweet and post disguised abuses against the method. Someone somewhere in your nation who might be on your ‘Friend’ list for reasons unknownst to you, chances upon this post and riles you up. This is the beginning of a storm which if not quenched early, will ravage you. You will be branded non-patriotic, pessimistic and what not. Yet another view on this angle will be the exploits of your country’s leader and the counterpart in your ‘friend’s country. Both of you wrangle on topics that involve your leaders and might range from the mundane to the extraordinary. Both of you would not be willing to give in to the other’s arguments and as a result, the debate widens its horizon to include more members. Thus it gains a huge scale and suddenly, you find yourself in the midst of a controversy.