Let’s Not Use Social Media Power To Scare Society
By Mahesh Vijapurkar
Mumbai residents are stout-hearted, taking every inconvenience in the stride. They did with the 1993 communal riots, the subsequent serial bomb blasts, and even coped with the 2005 deluge following a cloudburst. But the last is etched sharply on the mind, and every time it rains hard, they get on the edge.
This happened on August 29 too, but the city was back on its feet, and left the matter of the reasons for a doctor being washed away through an open manhole to the city government and the courts. When another gust of rain began to sweep the region on Sept 20, there was needless fear.
Irony is that unverifiable information as it floats across the country is trusted while institutional media with gatemen in place expected to check the veracity of the information they purvey is now suspect.
Fear caused by social media. A message announcing an impending landfall precisely at 3pm at Mumbai of a cyclone did the rounds and anxiety peaked. Offices emptied; the schools had been closed earlier as a precaution against heavy rain. But an August tweet of education minister was retweeted as if it was Sept 20’s by some.
These messages now fall in a category of apparent mischief-making for there was no announcement of a build-up of a cyclone. It takes four-six days to develop and move and its movement is nicely plotted.
It cannot catch people unaware, though it is likely that preparedness may be inadequate to meet its challenge.
A week earlier, another scary message asking people to stock up on food, water, milk, medication etc also did the rounds and it did jolt one.
The announcement by the municipal corporation and the police clarified that no cyclone warning had been issued. They believed only what they chose to: the WhatsApp message, origin unknown.
It could be said people were playing safe, but it points to two critical things: one, the legacy media’s declining credibility, the news TV’s penchant for sexing up everything for TRPs, and two, the belief that the social media messages are reliable because someone without stakes was helpfully sending it out. The legacy media is seen as a purveyor of fake news. While social media is largely being used for fake news.
When I countered the cyclone rumour on the same platform using satellite images from Indian Met Office, only a few were irked at the potential the ‘social media’ has for mischief, and began to recall how even elections are won by using it by lying, exaggerating, and debunking rivals without basis. The general view among the irked was it was not ‘social’ but ‘unsocial’ because of the use it was being put to.
Irony is that unverifiable information as it floats across the country is trusted while institutional media with gatemen in place expected to check the veracity of the information they purvey is now suspect. The whataboutary - which is, "You accuse me? You did the same, didn't you?" kind of debates also on other platforms - can cause immense damage to the society by ignoring issues of import.
Gossip at the village well is less dangerous. It may gather spice along the way and some exaggeration be its one key element. But its geography is small. Social media crosses boundaries at breath-taking speed and those who consume news from newspapers and TV ask: If it is on the WhatsApp, why is it not on the TV? It is argued that tweets are used as sources but not WhatsApp messages.
The conclusion one can draw is that finally, as a friend from Hong Kong told me recently, “Finally, a monster has taken roots. Quite scary," and the other was "That's what social media is - it gets reduced to the lowest common denominator, which in our country is pretty damn low."
But of course, social media has its important and helpful uses apart from mere mindless forwarding of doubtful messages, but subscribers have to think before they press the ‘Forward’ key.
