DailyPost 1190
A MANIPULATED WORLD
In a democratic world, where the rule of law is the name of the game, where executive and judicial processes are very well known, where laws are executed / implemented in word and spirit, there seems an urgency to prove everything on the social media. It seems to have become the final arbiter of right & wrong and by an extension of justice too. At least the common understanding of it. What is most intriguing are the evidences being tailored for the medium, which even now remains untried and untested for any worthwhile, sustainable and gainful advantage.
What it can deliver seems to be very clear to individuals and all stakeholders or it is presumed to be so. With no other medium so readily available having the capability to reach out to every individual, there is a mad rush to prove it right there. Pics / videos are created, edited, titled, photoshopped, viewership numbers inserted to catch your attention. Catching your attention is the crux of the battle.
With no rules in the social media world, ownership of large number of messages / posts unknown, unknown people delivering earth shattering messages, both the content and medium is being manipulated in every possible manner. Newer and innovative methods of manipulation are being added to the already stockpiled arsenal. News articles which have never been published make a surreptitious entry in the social media world with all trappings of authenticity. A successful lingo of manipulation has already been created and is being improved upon.
A medium which moved beyond rationale and logic, its hard to say how it fits in the democratic system of checks and balances. The focus, time, energy and money spent in this manipulative game is way beyond what should have been in the earnest effort to achieve the real objectives. Dissemination of true facts. The platforms are not even referees, the business models don’t work that way. Have other medias lost their relevance?
MANIPULATED SOCIAL MEDIA INFORMATION REGIME SEEMS TO BE THE NEW NORMAL.