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Good riddance if our 'nationalists' follow Sonu Nigam and leave Twitter

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Javed Anwer
Javed AnwerMay 24, 2017 | 20:31

Good riddance if our 'nationalists' follow Sonu Nigam and leave Twitter

There is more outrage on Twitter today by "nationalists" who feel strongly about the service's "anti-national" behaviour in India. It adds to the outrage that was there yesterday. And it will be followed by the outrage that will be there tomorrow.

Outrage has become the default state of Twitter in India. Only the cause fuelling the outrage changes. Today, though, it is about the Twitter account of Bollywood singer Abhijeet. The account has been suspended by Twitter, allegedly because of the language Abhijeet used in his tweets or possibly due to the content of those tweets. Those tweets were not nice, to say the least.

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Following the suspension of Abhijeet's account, there is outrage within Indian Twitterverse, which is increasingly dominated by shrill, abusive, and vitriolic Twitter accounts. The outrage also follows Sonu Nigam, another Bollywood singer who apparently tweets nationalistic tweets, who has decided to quit Twitter in solidarity with Abhijeet. Although before quitting, Nigam did go on a spectacular 24-tweet Twitter rant, explaining why he is quitting the micro-blogging site.

And then finally, there are some comments from Abhijeet. He has deemed Twitter "anti-national" and "jihadi". In other words, this is a service Indians ought to stop using.

"It is a platform for anti-nationals, anti-Indian Army, anti-Modi, anti-Hindu and for terrorist supporters. I would say all are Naxals, they should be punished severely. It's jihadi Twitter," Abhijeet reportedly told IANS from Interlaken in Switzerland. Only time will tell if he will be back on Twitter or not in the future.

Wonderful. Now, if only more like-minded people can follow Nigam and leave Twitter that will be, well, quite good for Twitter. In fact, it could be the best thing to happen to Twitter in years. It may even save the service, which nowadays resembles a festering cesspool of hatred and banality.

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Once upon a time, Twitter used to be great. It still is one of the best services to broadcast an emergency message or a great idea. As India Today Tech once wrote, information travels faster on Twitter than even waves generated by an earthquake.

It still has the power to bring communities together, warn people of impending danger, has the ability to broadcast distress messages widely, the ability to make breaking news reach the farthest corners of the earth. It also remains quite good, fundamentally, for creating connections and keeping in touch with people who may not be your friends but are part of your social or professional life.

But most of the goodness of Twitter nowadays lies buried under all the chaos and noise that millions and millions of outraging people add to it. Everything that makes Twitter great also gives millions of people, with motives, the chance to create a virtual environment that is toxic at best and downright scary at worst.

Rape and murder threats, the worst kind of abuses possible, have become part of Twitter conversations. And the most troublesome aspect of this whole issue is that the toxic and abusive conversations are not led by fringe groups and mentally-hinged people.

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They are led by groups that are well-entrenched. People, who are important enough in their personal life to hold a verified Twitter account, are often part of mobs that swarm on anyone and everyone who disagrees with a particular point of view or says something that someone, somewhere deems "anti-national".

The problem of abuse is so rampant - and probably so effective in achieving its goal of silencing people - on Twitter that nowadays you can buy professionals to do it. For Rs 100 they will make five abusive tweets at anyone you chose as the target. Same is the bullying and drowning out of other voices and ideas.

This too is so effectively done on Twitter that nowadays political parties and organisations often use paid tweets in a bid to drown out opposition, destroy the peace of anyone who doesn't agree with their views, or simply just to reshape public discourse.

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Sonu Nigam went on a spectacular 24-tweet rant before quitting. Photo: India Today

Given this context, if millions heed the call of Abhijeet and follow Nigam in quitting their accounts, it can only be good for Twitter and people who want to use it as an information tool.

The less chaos and noise there is on Twitter, the better it is as a social network. If the shouting subsides on Twitter, it can be useful again as a tool to exchange ideas and information. People can again say things without fearing an abusive reprisal from a horde.

So, it would be great if our great "nationalists" who find the Twitter "anti-national" can just boycott it. The chances of that happening are, however, quite low. Despite all the outrage.

The "nationalists" actually derive power from Twitter. They thrive on chaos. The abuse many spew out on Twitter puts them in the limelight and they bask in its glow. After all, where else will obnoxious comments, which often go viral on Twitter, find some favour with people?

Definitely not in the real world where people, or at least the people who have something decent to do, don't bother with the nonsense that flies on Twitter. So, leave Twitter, dear India nationalistic Twitter users. If you can leave, then leave.

Last updated: May 24, 2017 | 20:31
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