PANJIM: As the globe witnesses a transition from industrial to e-complex, everyone it would appear, is trying to grapple with the complexities of this change. Giving voice to this thought, at the recently concluded Writers and Readers Festival, at the session on ‘The social media era: Is everyone an expert?, author and editor Subhanjan Sarkar pointed out that while everyone is still trying to figure out the change, for those authors and writers who are not, or refuse to be net- savvy, the challenge comes in trying to cope with the publisher’s demands to jump on to the social media bandwagon.
Sandesh Prabhudesai, founder and editor of Goanews.com observes that today social media constitutes 80 per cent of his readership, with 60 per cent alone accruing from Facebook. Twitter, Google Plus, Linkedin form the bulk of others. “The scenario is changing very fast. People on social media are reporters whose news is much faster, in the moment and more authentic. So as a media person I need to be equally fast and give news that people do not already know,” he maintains.
What may come as a bit of a surprise is that the social media is yet to catch on in some countries in the West like Germany. “In Germany less than 3 per cent are on social media/e-book although Munich is the second largest place in the world for publishing. People would much rather go to a store and buy a book. German authors by and large have a problem taking to this new media,” reveals German author Christophe Kolbe.
The advent of the social media has nevertheless brought a greater transparency. “The dynamics of the social media, particularly Facebook, is such that it is instant, interactive and nothing can be suppressed or hidden unlike other media,” he adds. “As journalists, we now have a new role to play. We need to be investigative and authenticate facts. In that sense, now we have much more responsibility thrust upon us.”
While polarising of debates has become quicker, making it easier to flush out issues, author Sudeep Chakravarty, who has been in the ‘conversion’ for more than five years, observes that people take extreme positions in their comments. “People who ‘troll’ are propagandists. But have fun with the troll, go with the flow,” advises this author who is happy that Facebook has helped to create the right buzz about his new book despite several ‘trolling’ attempts.
Terming it as a double edged sword, Prabhudesai says self-regulation rather than legal legislation should be the byword in righteous use of social media. “It is good as there is an immediate manifestation of responses and bad to the extent that there are so many unfiltered views and responses being posted. It’s not a question of having a million followers, but the right ones.”
But the increasing level of free aggression has been raising some serious questions about ‘where to draw the line?’ While agreeing that each individual is accountable, Chakravarty pointed out that cyber crime cells are now coming up to combat those who take undue advantage of this virtual space. “The holiest place in the world is in the street, it belongs to everyone. Social media is like a street,” avers Prabhudesai. “But use this place judiciously,” cautions Kolbe. “For even in the street, there are rules to be followed.”
