Social media for tolerant Arunachalee society

One might recall that last year around this time, youngsters started a movement to keep Itanagar-Naharlagun clean and green, with an event lined up through social media site, “Facebook”. That movement of “social service” picked up very effectively and was well supported by many individuals, departments and civil society organisations. Likewise, many meaningful discussions were and are still held on facebook.  For once, it was reminiscent of younger days when elders gathering in Dere (similar to a town-hall in Galo language) discussed almost every subject that affected the common people, policies were scrutinized and actions for or against any policy were executed. Dere or town-hall -that’s the place where societal evolution took turn and evolved into tangible shapes. That is the past and in the present day akin to the town-hall is the “Social Media”, embedded within the internet.

Like a well packaged product with all good things, few dangerous trends have emerged over these past 2-3 years in such social media site too.  For instance, many of the issues have been buried with comments and counter-comments which extend into personal and community space and so much so that it has created tensions too.  There is chaos and there’s anarchy too, exactly like in a real life situation. Most of the participants creating hatred are using pseudo-names and with hidden identities, they tend to tread dangerously on communal path. Thus, there’s a need for the administrators of the social media groups to regulate memberships and their comments. Encouraged by few pseudo-names creating “hara-kiri” in the group, there is an increasing trend of appearing with pseudo-names in social media with the intent of creating mischief.

Notwithstanding the negatives of it, the young Arunachalees have taken to usage of “Facebook” like a duck to water. Having taken the plunge and many of the youngsters are learning to swim, some of them are stroking well; few of them are still struggling: gulping water through mouth, few through noses yet all of them are surviving well. Most of the strugglers are yet to come to terms with the unlimited power bestowed by the social media in which everybody is as powerful as those who are whizzing around in SUVs with red-beacons; each one has a voice that must be heard. 

Looking back, early users of internet would recall that the social media site, “Orkut”  was very popular then came the “Facebook” along-side with “twitter”. Social media ensures “one-man, one vote yet the loudest of all voices”. These media sites have become the great leveller of hierarchy and social structure. So much so that we have witnessed, the mobilisation of crowds without the backing of big budgets, “Arab Spring in Egypt”, “Occupy Wall Street in US of America” and “Bangladesh’s Shahbag Square”. Here in Arunachal too, in the right spirit, several of the pertinent issues were raised in the most popular facebook group from the state called, “Voice of Arunachal”. Issues were and are still raised, debated and discussed; perspectives are thrown up every now and then.

Pray that young Arunachalees would continue to discuss and engage in meaningful dialogue in order to have a shared vision for the society and the nation state. In it, there’s no “ruler-subject’ equation, there’s no ‘rich-poor’ divide and further, it recognizes neither the position nor the power. Arunachal Pradesh, with the highest internet penetration amongst the Himalayan state as per government of India’s report (17/ 1000 households), has a great opportunity to utilize social media for positive change.  There’s scope for much healthier debate and acceptance of other’s viewpoints. In the larger context, social media can help create a tolerant society where two views can be heard, without getting personal.