Social Media and India : A tale of substance

India has the second-largest number of Internet users in the world: Translate Media

WhatsApp forwards is a fresh way of communication among the anonymous faces. The usual friendly morning message on a WhatsApp group is replaced by a picture of Narendra Modi or Rahul Gandhi instead of a god or some beautiful landscape. Facebook has made it very simple for users to share a picture or a clip of any quality (derogatory or flattering) which caters to an audience of wide mindscape and ideology. 

This is very modest of the sign that Social Media is not what it used to be; a mode of communication and connecting to a global audience. Now, ideologies are formed on a Facebook post which to some sort is of no relevance in reality. This has endangered the potentiality and existence of sources of accurate knowledge and consciousness who then find themselves lost among the masses.

Is India Social Media ready?

WhatsApp has its biggest audience market in India, and it cannot bring in a pause to its exploration of newer updates and advancements. In 2018, a series of fake news was shared widely on WhatsApp and some of them lead to some violent outrages in some rural and urban-rural towns in India. To curb the spreading of Fake material on its platform, WhatsApp appointed a grievance officer to check for consumers’ complaints. 
“According to the WhatsApp website, users can reach out to the company’s support team directly from the app under the ‘Settings’ tab and in case they wish to escalate the complaint, they can contact the Grievance Officer directly” reports Business Today.
This was the very base of evolution in social media usage and policies (at least in India).

15.9 million first-time voters in 2019 Lok Sabha Elections: Dawn

The recent Elections saw a high manipulation of Facebook and Twitter among other platforms, mostly for the politicians to play their to and fro game. Social media has not only proved to be a potential platform for citizens to indulge in conversations of importance but also Ministers have used it to the utmost extent. Ministers attacking more on personal and less on professional grounds have proved that usage of Social Media is inclined towards a route that was never forecasted. 

Although social media giants have already made plans and updates about their future without undue repercussions (if any), it is still a question of fear about the impact of social media on the mind of an Indian who totally relies on it for information and news. 

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