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.
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