#TwitterGovernance

Finally, @MumbaiPolice is a reality! Mumbai Police has made its long overdue Twitter debut. Better late than never. Led by Twitter, social media is changing the ways India is being governed. Leading from the front is @narendramodi with 16.9m followers. His use of Twitter to conduct swift and potent diplomacy has generated global headlines. Senior Union Cabinet ministers like @sureshpprabhu & @SushmaSwaraj have earned accolades for being available to ordinary citizens in times of distress. This is pretty encouraging. Social media use has some side effects too. It has become an effective tool to conduct at times (dirty) politics. This trend has come in for some sharp criticism given the advent of trolls and premium on nuisance. This, however, should not be used as an excuse by those in power who are yet to log on to the e-governance story unfolding in India.

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#DigitalCrusader

Pic Courtesy: Indian Express

A young Kerala girl has done what millions like her want to do but fail to do so due to societal pressure. This young girl cancelled her wedding due to dowry demand. This calls for unprecedented courage. Credit goes to her parents for giving her the space to decide for herself even as the move would bring a ‘bad name’ to the family. What is remarkable is the way this brave girl used the social media to tell her story. She did not fight shy of presenting her side of the story thus bringing to light a malaise that plagues our society. Her Facebook post putting her decision to cancel the wedding in context has rightly gone viral. That is a good beginning but the core message has to get viral too. Say no to dowry, marriage or no marriage.

‘Like’ versus ‘Dislike’

Facebook will add ‘dislike’ button to its news feed. ‘Dislike’ addition is to ostensibly help manifest emotions beyond ‘like’. The ‘dislike’ button is not a suo motu offering but a result of rising subscriber demand for variety in emotional expression. Is the move going to lead to serious sibling rivalry between ‘like’and ‘dislike’? It is early days but a safe bet can be placed on ‘like’ emerging the undisputed winner. Here is why: a) like is a safe happy emotion (here even a death announcement provokes ‘likes’ by hordes); b) pressing a like does not place any negative burden on the action while as dislike denotes clear cut negativity; c) Facebook’s news feed core today supports positive energy leaving little room for any dislike and d) for ‘dislike’ to dominate ‘like’ FB has to change its DNA. That is unlikely!

Pic Courtesy: http://www.vavel.com

@rakeshkhar