Social Media’s Impact on Indian Politics
Ever since the advent of the Internet around the turn of the millennium, there’s has been an exponential growth in the usage of Social Media by the world’s tech proficient population, in general , and teens and young adults in particular .
The advent and subsequent mass – accessibility of various Social Media platforms has greatly increased the general public’s ability to share information and opinions regarding a vast array of issues and topics , through the exchange of visual indications and texts , whether the sharing is done at a one-to-one level of through very large virtual networks and communities.
Therefore , it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that nowadays , a lot of discussions regarding Politically charged issues , as well as very significant degree of Online campaigning and promotion on the part of the IT wings and cadres of all the major as well as minor Political parties , that’re talked with further advancing their respective parties goals and objectives takes place on the above-mentioned communication platforms.
As a result , in addition to having facilitated a new forum for political debates and discussions , it has also heavenly influenced the overall public viewpoint regarding almost any and every major and minor issue of relevance, as through the usage of complex algorithms and focused advertising , the Political parties are mostly able to successfully influence and thereby tilt the electoral or outcomes to their benefit .
Just like any other disruptive , yet innovative and opportunity-filled technology system, Social Media has directly and indirectly, led to a lot of both positive as well as negative developments that’re deeply impacted the society, especially so in the realm of politics.
Due to their’s mostly uncensored nature, the above-mentioned platforms also bestow individuals and groups with a Mass-audience reaching platform to express and state their opinions.
The positive\empowering effects of Social Media are as follows:
- Social media confers individuals\parties with a very large Online audience to state their views and also discussed and debate with other people regarding important issues . This was particularly exemplified during the Covid phase .
- It allows people to view\stream an almost endless amount of content or to advertise their views , opinions, ideas, and policies etc .
- The numerous Social-networking sites have also greatly enhanced the abilities of NGOs , regulatory and procedural entities , nascent Civil Society organizations and innumerable individual activists and mobilizers to link up with one another , in order to further advance their’s nobel cause .
- The emergence of Social Media has significantly enhanced the educated laymen’s access to vast amounts of objective and detailed informative content .
The negative effects of Social Media are as follows:
- Of late , Social Media has become a facilitating mechanism for the instantaneous spreading of fake news and unverified information , which has led to the ordinary folk getting misguided , fundamentally swayed , and also tending to believe in irrational ideas and advices. the above-mention occurrences , disastrous, shattering. when they’re malignly applied during political campaigning and promotions , as they tend to promote divisiveness and disharmony amongst the people , in addition to shuttering public trust in democratic political processes .
- Social Media’s applicative algorithms resolidify and reinforce prevalent Political biases and create ” echo chambers” , where individuals mostly , though not entirely , just view the sort of content that confers to their’s held views and opinions . More often than not this lead to Political polarization and scarcity of inclusive and tolerative open-minded views , ultimately leading to an exclusionary and intoleranant society. The above-described situation is especially true for India.
- These communicative platforms have also allowed unscrupulous and ill-intented individuals to harass and bully others on Online platforms . Thanks to the significant degree of anonymity that social media provides , Cyberbullies can easily and anonymously harass people without having to face consequences for their intentional wrongdoings , The above-described problem of Toxic bullying is especially commentaries and opinion-stating.
- As Social Media platforms do collect humongous amounts of their member user’s Personal data ( for necessary reasons), which can very easily yet dangerously be used for malicious purposes. A few relevant examples of the above-mentioned malicious usages are the sale of individuals Personal and sensitive information (especially financial or any other type of delicate information) to third parties, without prior permission from the concerned individuals. A few examples of the above-mentioned types of Data leakages and misusages are the Upstox data leak that occurred in April 2021 and the Justpay data-leak that occurred in 2020 .
On a conclusionary note, Social Media is still an evolving and yet shaping Digital\tech Media application that can’t strictly be either glorified or demonized, it’s actual impact is rather much more nuanced and multi-faceted , falling somewhere near a shade of grey.
The same above-mentioned analysis may be given about it’s impact on national as well as International Socio-political discourses, as it has undoubtedly brought many benefits to all the relevant stakeholders in the Political system as elaborately specified above, but at the same time it has also birthed or unintendedly empowered and facilitated the execution of a lot of Condemnable practices such as Cyber-bullying, greater spreading of unverified or misleading information, unauthorized collection and proliferation of individuals personal data etc.
Anant Shukla, your insightful blog on the impact of social media on politics is truly commendable! Your well-researched analysis provides a nuanced understanding of the dynamics at play. Congratulations on delivering such a thought-provoking piece that sheds light on this crucial intersection of technology and politics. Looking forward to more enlightening reads from you!
Good start , hoping to see you gradually get better , at your craft .
Excellent!
Very well written article. I noticed you elaborated negatives more than positives, tells us how social media is impacting us negatively these days. We being able to read your blog is one of the positives too 🙂
Social media these days has become a farrago of negatives and positives, talking about the impact on politics, of course people are now open to various information which they had absolutely no idea about earlier, but at the same time we cannot ignore the fact that it shapes the mindsets of the population. Obviously taking the example of Instagram reels and YouTube shorts, we notice the short and frankly speaking the very stupid clips of certain political leader and regard it as his whole personality, people have started ignoring FACTS and have started believing rumours. In a lay man language it is far more better to say that fake news spreads like spilt water.
Honestly great job. You highlighted all the main facts and points
Well elaborated points, looking forward to more articles.