Click to play videoTime magazine's person of the year is you. And you is everybody who is on the net. Society is seeing a great power shift as people are transforming the Internet from a resource to a living and pulsating lifeline.
And the Internet is simply reflecting our lives, the good and the ugly, from the mundane to the special, which the Web is transforming into a living and breathing social organism. The web today wants to tap into you to make your voice count like never before.
The web is not only highlighting social issues it is also chronicling every last detail of an individual's life. Blogs haven't just come of age, they have taken on a life of their own.
But they aren't the only weapons online activists have in their arsenal. Online petitions like those found on petitiononline.com are another method activists employ to keep their causes alive.
From seeking justice for Jessica Lall and Priyadarshini Mattoo to more global issues like peace in Lebanon, if it's a cause someone believes in, it'll find its way to your inbox.
On India 360 CNN-IBN asked: Is technology creating a new kind of citizen?
It is often said that young people don’t have a stake in the system. Is the World Wide Web the one way where young people can jump into the public life?
Editor of JAM magazine, Rashmi Bansal says, “Yes, the Internet is providing platform for the young people who otherwise would not have written letters to the editor or may be formed a morcha or come into the real world to fight an issue”.
Bansal believes that it is a “platform where people can express their opinion. But the real power of this medium lies when the mainstream media is looking at blogs to get a peek into the minds of the young people. And then the issues are amplified and spilled over into the real world. For example the reservation issue, the effectiveness came about because people in the online world were passionate about it and then the mainstream media picked it up along with the offline activism. All three of them together made the impact very powerful”.
Bansal’s blog is called ‘youth curry’ and she says that she writes a “purely personal” blog.
“I write it as an individual and for the sheer pleasure of writing. I do not write to provoke any kind of reaction or activism. It’s just that I write in a more free manner than if I were to publish in a mainstream medium,” says Bansal.
Many believe that there are a number of things that one can write in blogs but not in mainstream publications. Is this where the strength comes from on the net that one can say just about anything, as there are no laws to stop an individual?
Avid blogger Shivam Vij, who has written on many subjects including the Khairlanji episode, says, “This is both true and not true because the moment one stars writing a blog and it gets a certain amount of response and you are forced to be accountable to your readers. So there is some responsibility on the net, too, as people start questioning your ideas there also”.
For media coordinator of United Students Aditya Raj Kaul, who played a sterling role in the justice for Priyadarshini Mattoo case, the Internet was a strong medium to help his cause.
“These days the Internet has become a very important weapon for grassroot activism, be it the Jessica Lall case, Priyadrashini case or the Khairlanji incident and various minor incidents that don’t get noticed by the mainstream media,” Kaul says.
But is blogging a form of armchair activism? People don’t really have to go and sweat it out in a rally as they can just send off their angry e-mails from the computer.
Sociologist at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Susan Visvanathan explains, “It does have a catalytic effect. I have followed many blogs closely and I think when one looks at the works that bloggers do it is essentially to draw attention to issues which they have control over. So, I think because they are elite they are able to bring those resources over. The impact cannot be denied”.
But is this democratic because here is an arena, which simply does not have any checks and balances. One does have to be responsible but in the net you are not a politician who has to go out and get votes, you are not like the media that has to be worried about defamation laws, you actually don’t have to be worried about anything.
Vij begs to differ, as he says, “No that is not true because there are more checks and balances than the real world. A blog’s value is only by the incoming links and people will come to you only if they like your blog or think what you are saying is true. One has to be worthy of attention”.
So, the only freedom on the net that one has is the freedom to be responsible.
Another question that arises out of the recent upsurge in blogging is that are these protests on the Web effective or are they simply the venting of a large number of individuals?
This is because there has been criticism that bloggers are dependent on the mainstream media. One can blog away but unless the mainstream media takes up the cause one is not going to get very far.
“There is some truth to that but as far as those of us who are writing under our real names are concerned we are as responsible as any journalist would be. We are not irresponsible people. Now if the mainstream media looks at our blogs as a source into what the buzz is then it is a mutual association,” explains Bansal.
But why is there so much of hatred and venom in the blogs?
“There is hatred and venom in the blogs because there is hatred and venom in the real world,” says Vij.
But why particularly on the mainstream media especially if the bloggers are dependent on the media to take up the issues that they are wanting to raise.
However, Vij feels that there is “no conflictual relationship between mainstream media and citizen media. There is more of a relationship of cooperation. One must understand that these are ordinary people who are blogging. They have jobs and lives but they feel that there are certain issues, which the mainstream media is ignoring and the one platform that they have to raise their voice is the net”.
Another aspect of the Internet is the plethora of interesting information that is available on the net, particularly in disasters like tsunami or 7/11. That is when the blogs really come into their own and provided the citizens with a lot of information.
So, if one wanted to donate anything to the victims all one had to do was go to the blogs and they had complete information.
For Kaul the usability of the net is so immense that he wishes that Mahatma Gandhi had access to the Internet.
Kaul says, “He (Gandhi) could have done wonders with the Internet. We have been talking about the negative aspects of the Internet but there are positive aspects to it too”.
Gandhi may have missed out on the Internet but today netizens are leaving no stone unturned in turning the net into the main device for protests and activism.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)
More on IBNLive Right Now
TOP NEWS
MOST SHARED
PHOTOGALLERY
