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Politics and Public Policy in India

April 25, 2012 • 9:03 pm 2

A Personal Dharma of sorts on Social Media Conduct

A simple enough list:

#1 Know why you are here – remember time spent here is time not spent elsewhere

#2 Engage directly or don’t engage at all – life is too short to be wasted on those who can’t help being themselves

#3 Never block (unless rarest of rare cases) – blocking says more about you than about the blocked

#4 Don’t obsess over other’s Opinions  - Obsessing over contrarian opinions wont make your Opinion any more credible

#5 Never attack private individuals – All attacks are bad, attacks on Private Individuals are worse.

#6 Maintain a healthy level of digital detachment – virtual relationships are not real, burdening them with expectations is setting yourself up for certain distress

#7 Watch what you are letting on digitally – most digital idiosyncratic behavior is a signal to you about you in your real world

#8 And last but not the least  don’t try too hard to belong, it is not real – if exclusive digital cliques are piquing you it is a certain sign that the real problem lies elsewhere

that has helped me be social media healthy and Twitter happy !

Also on the same topic:

Of Twitter Crusaders and Internet Anarchists

Why do we Twitter

Twitter – the anti social network ?

Pavlov Putras

Filed under: Digital Citizen

August 19, 2011 • 1:04 am 2

Pavlov Putras

It is unclear who first coined the phrase “Macaulay Putra” but it has gained currency over the years with some notoriety to label anyone who disagrees with a particular variety of Saffron Left rhetoric. Well whoever it was deserves this blogger’s gratitude for inspiring this improvisation.

Since the advent of the Social Media in India a curious counter phenomenon has come to surface. On any given political topic of the day, one is witness to “obsessive compulsive” digital behavior that has since become almost predictable.

Early attempts at labeling this “obsessive compulsive” digital behavior took a communal turn and wrongly so. Now thanks to the Anna Hazare, anti-corruption crusade we know why the label “Internet Hindu” was a misapplication to describe this digital behavior. Nothing exemplifies it better than this plea

In reality what we have created in the social media are a whole generation of Pavlov Putras.  Now popular legends on Ivan Pavlov’s theory on conditional reflexes – “someone who merely reacts to a situation rather than using critical thinking“  celebrate an unnamed domestic canine. But it would be grossly inhuman and unjust to borrow that canine appellation here.

Hence this proposal to consider the more swadeshi and respectable label –  ”Pavlov Putra”  to describe this obsessive, compulsive digital behavior. (Political Correctness: the appellation putra is applied in a gender neutral manner)

There is no need for the bone test to detect conditioned digital reflexes of a potential Pavlov Putra. All one has to do is state a public opinion and they will appear withing the social media with Pavlovian Predictability.

The Pavolv Putra’s most distinguishing trait is his or her passionate defense of anything that remotely discomfits those who they consummately hate. As a result the Pavlov Putra is usually blindsided into supporting even those that maybe directly inimical to the Pavlov Putra’s enlightened self interest.

We are still in the early days in our understanding of the underlying psychological impulses that result in the transmogrification otherwise sensible folks into Pavlov Putras. But given the rate at which digital entropy is increasing, there is an exponential growth in their numbers within the social media.Chances are you will run into one of them before you know it.

Also read:

Twitter Crusaders and Internet Anarchists

Why do we Twitter

Is Twitter the anti-social network

Filed under: Anna Hazare, Digital Citizen

March 8, 2011 • 11:59 pm 6

Dear BJP Digital disengagement is not the answer

Back in the days when news was not reported in real time, transcripts were not readily available forget YouTube Videos, it was convenient for Politicians to extricate themselves from mass communication snafus by seeking refuge in  - “I was misquoted by the media” or “The media misinterpreted what I said” or “The media twisted my remarks”.

The 24×7 TV and now the Digital era has changed much of that what with Politicians most recently blaming Twitter’s 140 character limit. News filtering today of a proposed ban on blogging and twitter on policy issues by BJP leaders highlights a larger point that is being missed by the political leadership of not just the BJP but other parties as well.

It is myopic to dismiss away the rapid rise of personalized social media platforms like  Twitter as a passing  fad. The kind of Digital Internationalism we are witnessing over the events in the Middle East is a reminder that this medium is here to stay and its growth is irreversible.

It is also foolish to characterize a personalized digital megaphone like Twitter as somehow fostering a personality cult and as somehow going against a culture of joint leadership. All mass communication in politics is personality oriented albeit from a medium of one’s choosing. Fellow blogger Pragamtic_D said it right in this comment on Twitter:

Some politicians may be more comfortable with 24×7 TV Studios and Op-ed columns. Comfort with the English language might put them a distinct advantage on those media. Some others may prefer the more informal Social Medium for both its brevity, flexibility and one to one interactivity with their constituents.

Any Digital disengagement via diktats over new media is akin to an attempt to turn the clock back to the days when politics thrived on information asymmetry.   What the BJP needs is not a social media ban but a coordinated Digital Strategy so a distinction may be drawn between the Party line and an individual leader’s opinion.

We already have this undemocratic environment where in the name of consensus building Parties dont conduct internal elections,  key appointments are an outcome of backroom intrigue,  legislative freedom is stifled through strict Party line Whips and the threat of disqualification thanks to the archaic anti-defection law. By  extending this culture of gagging opinion to the digital medium political parties are making an already bad situation worse.

So what might that have Ms. Sushma Swaraj done differently in this situation ?

Ms. Swaraj made a fundamental mistake by drawing a distinction between the cattle class and the media on Twitter. By maintaining two different twitter accounts she allowed herself to be twitter baited by the media in projecting what might have been her personal opinion as the party line. It is clear that Ms. Swaraj is not personally savvy with the technical aspects of the medium and their  impact on mass communication.  A  safer and far more meaningful Digital Strategy for Ms. Swaraj would have been to use  Twitter for its natural strengths – viral and non-linear digital amplification of stated positions and opinions.

What could the BJP do differently ?

Rather than box itself into a corner on apparent contradictions it should turned this whole episode to its advantage by projecting it as an example of how vibrant and open the BJP is on debate and discussion and in embracing new media. After all there is no precedent for a  Leader of the Opposition in a Parliamentary Democracy to have used Twitter in the manner Ms. Swaraj during the J&K intervention.

It is clear that there is a spirited battle for who must lead the BJP in 2014. That battle has to be settled through an open and transparent process, ideally with a Primary of sorts. It is unfortunate that Digital Engagement is being made the casualty in that battle.

Dear BJP leaders, Digital disengagement is not the answer.  We need @SushmaSwarajBJP to tweet and tweet more. We want @NarendraModi to continue to do what he is already doing. There surely is a  yet to be claimed Arun Jaitley Twitter handle. It would not be a bad idea at all to make Twitter the Platform where Debate takes place on Decision 2014 for the BJP.

Filed under: Assam elections 2011, Assembly elections 2011, DesiPundit, Digital Citizen, Internet Hindus, Narendra Modi, Nitin Gadkari, Offstumped, Social Media Reflections

February 22, 2011 • 4:21 am 1

Digital Internationalism via Twitter and Facebook

The spark in Tunisia, the fire in Egypt have now triggered events across several countries in the North Africa – Arab Peninsula region. Much debate has ensued on the role played by Online Social Networks in sustaining the movements against the current regime. With a Google employee becoming the face of the protests in Egypt thanks to a facebook he created, Social Networks have  become closely intertwined with these so called revolutions.

The collaboration between Google and Twitter to enable a “Speak to Tweet” service marked perhaps the most high profile digital intervention  in these ongoing events. It is too early to say at this time on the shape and form of regimes that will emerge from this upheaval in parts of the Arab world.

The magnitude of impact of  Social Networks on Revolutions on the ground may be a matter of debate. A greater impact is perhaps on events outside the countries in question. Rumors can virally coalesce into Digital Trends. Offense and digital outrage can manifest into  International Diplomatic pressure. Talk of a  Digital Global Conscience can even shame Governments into action under conditions which in a previous era would have been reasonable ground enough for a wait,  watch  and walk the winner approach.

One may debate the prudence of such Digital Internationalism in a world where Sovereign Nations will continue to be guided by their real interests. But one cannot wish away the reality of this Digital Internationalism. When combined with its other twin of Digital Sabotage of the WikiLeaks variety, Digital Internationalism can become a threat to the legitimate business of Sovereign Nation States.

India has been blessed with relatively benign internal political environment since the advent of Digital Social Networks but for the episodes of stone pelting in Kashmir. It is not without reason that parallels are being drawn between  Cairo and Kashmir. The use of Social Networks by anarchist groups in Kashmir is well established. We may perhaps be one outrage away from being at the receiving end of this variety of Digital Internationalism. Given how the memories of 2002 have been sustained internationally by both Islamist and Left Liberal activists, one can only imagine  the kind of pressure India were to have faced if the events of 2002 had played out in 2011.

Chinese reactions to online talk of a Jasmine Revolution exemplify one kind of response to how these digital conflicts will play out in the years to come. It was not long ago that the prescient Nitin Pai over at the Acorn had called for Public Diplomacy of a different kind – an Ambassador to Facebook. Given the kind of Digital Internationalism we are witnessing that may not be a bad idea at all.

But we may have to go beyond that to invent a new vocabulary, new idioms and new constructs for how Sovereign Nation States must go about their legitimate business in this Digital era to engage, shape and influence  Global Opinion while preempting and neutralizing digital saboteurs.

The foremost Digital challenge to Nation States in  the decades to come will more likely be from the stateless Digital Internationalist or Anarchist  rather than the state employed Cyber Warrior.

Filed under: Digital Citizen

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Opinions expressed on this site using the alias Offstumped are the blogger's personal opinions and do not in any way reflect the views of the blogger's Employers.