Make way for #internetdiaries2015

Amarjot Kaur

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While the burning issue of net neutrality stirred up a storm not only on the political but social level too, most of it stood advocated by the members of AIB. However, that is not the only thing that kept AIB buzzing; they made it to television with an exclusive show to themselves. Also, on following the Patel protests in August this year, Gujarat lifted the week-long ban on mobile internet with Surat and Ahmedabad being the last cities to resume services.

Though the controversial Section 66A of the IT Act was struck down by the Supreme Court, MediaNama had pointed out that it may be back in a new avatar. So, do you think people getting arrested for posting “objectionable content” on social media need to be booked? Amidst all the uproar, seems like the political commotion kept the internet churning, especially with reactions to innumerable bans and intolerance issues. Meanwhile, on the science front, dwarf planet Pluto has been the favourite of social media throughout the year with NASA releasing different images of it every now and then but this particular picture was massively shared on social media because of a heart shape emerging on it. It was a large and bright feature informally named ‘heart’, which actually covers 1,000 miles of the planet.

Politically correct

When it comes to hogging the limelight, our Prime Minister Modi takes the cake (along with the baker and the bakery). He recently made waves with The Indian Press Information Bureau posting a picture on its website showing PM Modi in a helicopter during an aerial survey of flood-hit Chennai. Well, it was a photo-shopped image and Twitterati couldn’t stop talking about it. The picture was removed, obviously, after it went viral. On international borders, Aylan Kurdi, three-year-old Syrian boy, whose body had washed up on the shores of Turkey, evoked an emotional response on social media. The hashtag ‘KiyiyaVuranInsanlik’ (translation: humanity washed ashore) became a trending topic on Twitter. In the first few hours after the accident, the image had been re-tweeted thousands of times, making Aylan a visual symbol of the Mediterranean crisis. Even though Indians stood protesting over the issue of same sex marriage, TV personality Bruce Jenner transitioned into Caitlyn Jenner, her ‘Call me Caitlyn’ cover on Vanity Fair went viral and the social media was proud of her transformation.

In the web

For all those of you who stand against the issue of net neutrality, maybe a little information on how Internet is booming in India (as validated in the rise of episodics and Web Series), will be a point of pacification. With Baked, Pitchers, and Permanent roommates, being posted YouTube, India, got a much-needed break from the ‘saas-bahu sagas’ and TV in general. The shows went out to reflect the concerns of the youth and guess what, people loved it! How do we know? Internet is quite transparent you see! The YouTube likes (for quantitative analysis) and comments for (qualitative analysis) were quite an eye-opener. So, apart from AIB, episodics, pretentious movie reviews and The Dope by Karan Talwar did quite well and now the Internet has its own edition of award shows too—Ghana Awards and Golden Kela Awards!

Videos that were

Besides the regular trolls and viral videos, one got to see the socially responsible side of internet too. Videos by Reshma Qureshi with a plea to ban acid sale #Banacidsale was quite a good suggestion for the government, so that they zero-in on banning things that are a little more relevant than porn and beef ban in the modern day and age!

Sofia Ashraf Song on Kodaikanal being polluted by Unilever, #377 teri maa ki churi and Gangsta Gudiya’s video featuring Nikhil D’Souza and Ugoeze, Out and Proud, released in September, also created waves. The song is a softer number with a plea for tolerance: “Does it really matter if I’m straight or gay”, sing a number of members of the gay community, shot in different settings. Also, Indian Ocean’s Rahul Ram joined comedians Varun Grover and Sanjay Rajoura to create Aisi Tesi Democracy, an omnibus outfit that focuses on many social issues in a satirical way. Their song Meri Samne Wali Sarhad Pe Kehte Hain Dushman Rehta Hai ridicules the preconceptions many Indians have about Pakistan.

Misleading facts

So, look at the Jasleen Kaur and Saravjeet Singh’s case or rumours of porn star Mia Khalifa joining Bigg Boss, there are times when internet misleads you. Don’t believe us, well, here are some instances that prove the same. Remember Vareender Jubbal, the Canadian journalist whose photo wearing a suicide vest went viral? The picture, photo-shopped by a group known for online harassment, was tweeted after the Paris attacks. Jubbal had posted original picture in August 2015. Another fake viral picture from 2015 is this rat look-alike KFC that was posted on Facebook by Devorise Dixon, claiming it’s a rat! A few days later, KFC called it a hoax! Thousands of people shared this image of a Syrian child raising her hands when a photojournalist was trying to click her picture; she thought the camera was some weapon. This picture was tweeted in March this year and went viral immediately but it was originally captured in 2012, reports BBC.

amarjot@tribunemail.com