On Monday, the only thing coming out of Bangladesh was a Twitter hashtag #despitebeingawoman. It’s the result of an uproar our Prime Minister sparked off when he — assuming it was a compliment for his Bangladeshi counterpart — said, “I am happy that Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, despite being a woman, has declared zero tolerance for terrorism.”
He was speaking at the Dhaka University, on Sunday. A speech that was part of a tour which involved talks in nuclear cooperation, terrorism, bilateral trade, efficient cross-border transit and even Space. But all of the above, are currently in the shadow of one headline — “PM’s sexist remarks”.
Back home, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is having a tough time fighting off the Twitterati who are demanding an explanation into the alleged cash-for-votes scandal, which involves a senior party member and now, maybe, himself.
Beyond politics is Hrithik Roshan...who spent most of last week surviving online bruising after he tweeted this: “My heartfelt condolences to d families of the 20 jawans killed in a mindless ambush by Manipur tribals.” Social media slammed him for confusing terrorists with tribals and pretty much asked him to stay away from any electronic device.
A user wrote: “Who manages Hrithik’s twitter? He is being trashed for his Manipur tweet blunder. Tweet hasn’t been changed.”
The problem Hrithik is not just confusing tribals with terrorists. He’s confusing followers for fans. It’s real... many of those making up that “followers” number are not hanging around to like photos of biceps or triceps. They’re observers with senses tuned well-enough to spot your next big blunder — online or offline. It’s a very similar scene with Naidu, who has 6,98,000 followers.
Dr Parakala Prabhakar, advisor (communications), to the government of AP agrees social media is a double-edged sword. “This is the flip side of social media. It’s irritating and we do lose our cool, but as a government body we have to show restraint. So the best manner to handle such an activity is to ignore it,” he says.
But can you ignore the trolls and the hawks? Absolutely not. For example, #despitebeingawoman now has over 25,000 tweets (at the time of print) and those tweets caused Modi's blunder to trend all day in India and abroad. While speaking with the BBC, Dr Athar Zafar of the Indian Council of World Affairs, said the Prime Minister could use “better words” in his speeches.
“This is something he needs to change if he wants more Indians to talk about his foreign visits and not such gaffes,” he said. Twitter or Facebook do reflect popularity. But they are both mirrors which will punch you back... may better sense prevail.
