Why I am Not a Troll
It has been quite some time since the BJP government was enjoying overwhelming support from one spectrum ie Social Media users. The BJP Govt’s achievements can be argued upon the basis of merit of the content but it was definitely a fresh change that most of the ministers were following the example set by PM Modi and ministers were using the social media to their advantages. The result is also evident as social media platforms are over populated with fans or supporters for BJP as committed as the cadres on the road. It is safe to assume that No anti-BJP survey will pass the test of online scrutiny and if online polling is the future of voting, BJP Government is here to stay for a long time.
However as the destiny unfolds in mysterious ways, a new spectacle has come to public viewing. BJP online supporters are largely from a young, educated, achievers group who do not believe in saying “YES MINISTER” to anyone. Looking at the BJP online support group in a broad category will define the group as people who have achieved their success in the previous governments under UPA and various state Govt but still feel that whatever was offered to them was not enough. They are also aware of the ongoing events all-around the world and simply not ready to accept the politicians as ruling elites which had been the case so far.
There comes the biggest twist in the tale of “Bhakts” as one may call them. With the advent of online followers, politicians are surrounded by supporters who are extremely aggressive and take the advantage of the online anonymity or ‘out of reach’ dimension. These supporters put forward the views rather innovatively. This becomes more prominent as such aggressive handles get more and more followers, the count of which is kind of a ‘status symbol’ for the new generation online users.
I could start adding the screenshots for such tweets but that would not add anything to the academic content of this article and hope that readers are already aware of such tweets/facebook posts etc.
Having explained the above, I like to stress upon the basic premise for this article- why I am not a troll.
The dictionary defines the trolling as ‘someone who leaves an intentionally annoying message on the internet, in order to get attention or cause trouble.’
Purely by that definition, any person posting abusive content online on a perpetual basis is to be considered a troll. A second category could be a lesser known person leaving messages online continuously to a big personality in the hopes of getting a reply, a like, a retweet or letting the millions of followers of the concerned person also read the troll’s comments. To elaborate further, trolling would be a harmless exercise for the person being aimed at and could be easily forgiven as being naïve behaviour.
However, there would be another category altogether which will spew venom, spread hate, spread fake news, and send abusive messages all the time. These are not Trolls, these are plain criminals although the crime is not actually committed but given the right set of circumstances, these people will not hesitate to take law into their own hands.
There are enough laws to tackle the last category and no one should have any problem with getting such people behind bars. It is also requested through this article that such people are identified and punished in a quick trial.
But one must not fail to highlight the concrete efforts from mainstream media to call out most of the social media users as trolls and latest newspaper articles are full of the evidence which suggests every major SM handle is a Troll. The case can be concluded by recent newspapers articles without naming one of my favourite online person who has never abused anyone but was also called ‘Troll’.
This led me to analyze the pattern and directed me towards writing this article.
Modi, Yes, Mr Modi is the centre of this controversy despite having no role to play in the entire fiasco. It is almost concluded that 2019 elections will be a tough battle and opposition will not leave any stone unturned. One can easily arrive at the conclusion that the mindset of the people is guided by the ongoing news and current affairs. Till 2014 elections, the responsibility was lying on mainstream media and social media presence was limited. Thus controlling the channels and newspapers editors, press club, anchors could be a great factor in elections. However social media has now achieved greater significance and will play a vital role in the 2019 elections as users will continue to expose the fake agendas on TV/Newspapers reports.
Thus to ensure Mr Modi losing the election in 2019, it was imperative to label the entire social media as a ‘sewerage, garbage, gutter’ platform which is only inhabited by Trolls and nothing on social media is trustworthy.
This is a well thought out plan and there are serious planners for the same. To their utter surprise and happiness, out came the issue of Passport controversy for Mrs Sadia alias Tanvi. One thing led to another and it was surprising to see the immature handling of the issue by the concerned minister who could have simply presented her case that she was not involved and will get the facts verified. Instead, she chose to react by highlighting the abusive tweets and also went a step further by putting a poll for and against the trolling that she received. The said minister is a highly regarded person and is considered to be one of the best foreign ministers the country has ever had. However everyone is entitled for their opinion but still one would expect certain level of maturity from a cabinet minister. One can easily visit the tweet handles of Mr Modi, Mr Jaitley and others who are constantly abused online for no reasons. No one has seen them complaining about this online abuses ever.
There was not a moment lost before the mainstream media lapped onto the issue and painted the social media users as trolls. Ultimately it was a fitting revenge which the mainstream anchors had been eagerly awaiting for long.
To stress upon my point, I request the readers to follow closely the below in coming days up to 2019 elections-
•There will be a wave of the so-called right-wing tweet handle name/DP and will remain abusive or critical of BJP Govt or abusive of other politicians. This will ensure that all party spokesperson criticize online trolling or social media users in TV studios.
•There will be a wave of genuine handles pointing out the failure of BJP and Modi Govt. This will help in getting the agenda forward that even BJP supporters are deserting the party.
•There will be a general impression that Modi is losing in 2019 and BJP is responsible for not supporting the core voters or not bringing out the core demands. Without realizing that it is next to impossible for the Govt to put corrupt politicians and officers behind the bar in a judicial process or it is not a simple task to declare article 370 as null and void or making a Grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya when the matter is in Supreme Court
•There will be a great hue and cry on mainstream media about social media users and sane ones will be further underlined and attacked by MSM.
All in all, a campaign will be in full swing till 2019 with only one aim- How to defeat Modi and his supporters.
I would like to request readers to stay alert and continue doing the one job which was meant by the social media- to inform the facts to common people and bring out the agendas in MSM and to share interesting memes (last one added for keeping the platforms funny)
To end the article, I would request all social media users to remain responsible in their comments and remind them of the quote below:
I would particularly like to congratulate my young friends for their innovative use of social media. Their frank method of conveying opinions is extremely endearing. I urge youngsters to continue expressing and discussing freely.
