Online Media- A Platform for Political Change

Online media tools, such as Facebook and Twitter have been in news all over the world for their ability to bring social change and mobilize people. They played a major role during the protests in the Middle East and North Africa. They have succeeded in providing a platform for ordinary men, women, and even children to stand up and demand for their rights and also air their discontent with the ruling regime. Social media with its mass reach has all the ingredients to become a perfect tool to organize a mass movement.

In India, the role of internet media in bringing political change has been more subtle. Narendra Modi is the only major politician to have used these tools to connect directly with common people, thus diluting the role of traditional media who have made some very uncharitable comments about him in the past. He gave a huge blow to the Delhi-based traditional English language media by interacting with lakhs and lakhs of his admirers on Google+ Hangout on August 31. It was a historic event because Modi was present there in person to interact with the common people and around 15 lakh people from 116 countries waited patiently; the event was delayed by an hour as Google’s servers could not handle the unprecedented traffic.

A Facebook application, called ‘Be Gujarat’s Brand Ambassador’, enables people to share stories and ideas on Gujarat’s development particularly in six areas- tourism, agriculture, tribal development, specialized education, power and women empowerment. The added incentive is four people will be selected to share their perspectives and ideas with Modi in person. Modi is the first Chief Minister to realize the global reach that these social media tools enjoy and thus use them for governance and also showcase Gujarat to a global audience.

Today, the youth of India is increasingly getting disenchanted with the sad state of affairs at the centre and Congress party’s increasing disconnect with the common people. Today's youth don’t blindly follow a political ideology; they are all well-read due to the sheer magnitude of free information available on the World Wide Web and debate on various issues. The left-leaning liberals that dominate the English media in India today brand them as ‘Internet Hindus’. These people have found a new platform in the form of social media to air their views. Youth activism on the internet is a movement; the effect of which will only be felt a couple of years from now. This is precisely the reason why Congress is ready to go the extra mile to impose restrictions on the internet media. Just the demography of the so called Internet Hindus reveals it all. According to an online survey:

• 88.9% identified themselves as ‘Internet Hindus’, indicating they attach no shame to the term.
• Of these, 4% are aged 20 years and below, 55% are aged 30 and below, 31% are 40 and below and only 10% are aged above 40. So, 90% of them are young Indians.
• 43% are graduates from top-notch engineering and medical colleges, 46% are post-graduates (a large number with an MBA degree), 11% have a PhD and 17.3% are studying. They represent the educated India.
• Of the 82.7% who are employed, 3.1% earn up to Rs 2 lakh a year, 18.4% earn up to Rs 6 lakh a year, 34.7% earn up to Rs 12 lakh a year and 26.5% earn more than Rs 24 lakh a year.

The survey data clearly indicates that these Internet Hindus represent well-educated, middle class section of India. These new age Hindus are very different from the Trishul wielding karsevaks of the Ayodhya era. But just like any other mass movement in history, the Internet Hindu movement also has a few abusive elements but most are open to new ideas and debate. When the rest of India slowly starts getting educated, increase their standard of living and start interacting with their peers on social media platforms and become politically aware, they will probably lean towards Modi and his brand of politics. By taking views of these Internet Hindus on-board  the BJP can hope to become a genuine right-wing party with a firm ideology, the kind the country requires the most today.

‘Let the tribe of Internet Hindus grow and let us create a nation of well informed voters’




COURTESY: NITI CENTRAL