By H H Mohrmen
Though social media and mass media are two mediums with a common second name, yet both have two different entities. At times it seems as if they are in competition with each other. Unlike mass media, social media though a new medium of communication allows both mass and private communication. Yet it is gradually occupying its space taking its shape and form in the information space which surrounds our lives.
To begin with it all started when I shared on social media a story which reported about the suffering that the people of Khasi-Pnar origin who live in Bangladesh had to endure. The Khasi-Pnars who have lived in the area since time immemorial now live in constant fear of being attacked by their neighbours. The peace-loving and law-abiding citizens of the country who for no fault of theirs woke up one day on the other/wrong side of the border without their being consulted, are now facing the ordeal. A journalist friend who wanted to carry the story on his online news portal expressed helplessness because he cannot base his report on a mere Facebook post despite the fact that the link shared was from one of the most popular newspapers in Bangladesh the Daily Star.
It is true a journalist or for that matter each and every one of us who uses internet and social media should exercise caution when sharing information and to believe whatever is shared on the internet. I once re-shared a post which included the photograph of a boy who was swimming over (what seems to be like) flood waters while on one hand he was holding a deer in his effort to save the animal. The post stated that the photograph was taken in Kaziranga national park, and it was only when my friend Rajkamal Goswami (who is a wild life scientist) saw the post that he told me the kind of deer which appeared in the photograph does inhabit the forests of Kaziranga that I realized how foolish I was and corrected myself.
Again, very recently I shared a video which showed US President Donald Trump ordering his security to remove a journalist who asked him uncomfortable questions. I thought that it was a recent video and questioned how a leader of a democratic country which believes in freedom of expression treat journalist like that. I didn’t check the video before sharing it and yet again I realized my mistake only when my friend from the US pointed that the video was one year old and it was part of Donald Trump’s press briefing during the election campaign.
Because the internet is free, there are times when statements shared in many social media platforms are erroneous. Added to that, there are even humorous and fake news portal. Hence, not all that is shared on social media is true and we also have lot of people with fake IDs on the prowl in the internet. Now, because publishing online is easy and cheap and it is no surprise that we have many online news portals, blogs and webzines too. I remember some have even shared a post which says that Abraham Lincoln says, ‘not all that is shared in the internet is true.’ Now how can Lincoln speak about the internet when the technology is only few decades old, so people have to be careful and trust only that which is reliable.
Webzines and online news portal are common now but online platforms can only provide brief news and short videos lasting between few seconds and two minutes. Online news like Wyrta in Jaintia hills not only provides instant news to the people of the area or to those who can speak Pnar, because the medium of communication is Pnar is also what attracts the younger generation to this portal. It not only helps youngsters to read in Pnar (although I disagree with the use of some alphabets in the way words are spelt), but nevertheless it is one popular portal now in Jaintia hills. Earlier young Pnars even if they communicate in their language find it difficult to read anything written in Pnar, but thanks to Wyrta now that has changed. From my visit to villages recently, I found many young people using smart phones with access to the internet keep themselves abreast with what happens in the state by reading Wyrta on a regular basis.
Online news also provides news in a piece-meal manner – one news at a time – unlike newspapers and magazine which give the readers a whole lot of news starting from regional to international and from information to entertainment in one piece or at one go. But social media and mass media are not in competition. They should instead look at ways to complement one another instead of being at odds with each other.
The recent case of the alleged molestation case at Raj Bhawan is a classic case where social media complements mass media. The case came to the fore through personal interaction between two friends on one social media platform and one of the party who is a reporter made a story from what has transpired in the communication. Some are of the opinion that social media cannot be taken as a source of news and in this case, the other argument is private conversation should kept in confidence and not be made public.
Can we use social media as a source of news and evidence? Well it is both yes and no because lots of things are now happening on the social media network. We have stories of people declaring on social media before committing a crime; we have incidents where people announce their intention to commit suicide on the social media. Now people can also do live-streaming of incidents, events and occasions. In such cases social media can be the news source or at least the posts on the platform can be used as evidence when the case goes for trial.
In the Raj Bhawan case, the communication on WhatsApp is evidence that a crime is committed and it should be taken as a reliable source of information, unless one of the communicators is using a fake account. Irrespective of the fact that texting in WhatsApp is a private conversation but the very fact that there is an element of a crime being committed is enough for the concerned authority to take cognizance of the case.
Social media is a new medium of communication it is here to stay, at least till the foreseeable future. So we cannot avoid social media by any means. Rather than avoiding new technology we need to embrace change and move towards the future with these changes. The point is since we cannot live without it so we have no other option but to accept and live with social media.
The story of the former Deputy Commissioner, West Jaintia Hills, Arun Kumar Khembhavi using face book page to communicate with people and using WhatsApp as a platform to accept complaints also enabled him to act almost instantly to address public complaints and grievances, is a classic case of new technology being used to improve communication and make governance accessible to the public. We cannot go back but move forward in time with the changes that happen around us. And social media will be part and parcel of that journey to the future.
Now there is talk about digitisation everywhere; this much talked about exercise will only be partly successful without involving social media. Mass media and social media are not in competition but on the other hand communication and information sharing will be easy and more accessible if the two see each other as partners and not competitors.