The Unsocial Side Of Social Media

Woke up to the terrible news of Sunanda Pushkar’s sudden death. A part of me couldn’t help getting rid of the nagging guilt of having been a part of the circus that followed after she took to Twitter to share her husband’s BBM texts to a former journalist in Pakistan. Two attractive women sparring over a public figure in full public view was a bait hard to resist. What ensued was pure mayhem – Twitterati trying to outdo each other in cracking the funniest jokes at someone else’s distress. The lady’s incoherent anger at a woman who she saw as someone out to destroy her marriage was fodder for the grist mill. 

Frankly, a domestic dispute is none of our business. But with so much dirty linen being aired for public consumption, most of us could not hold back our holier than thou attitude and scorn.

Twitter is a cornucopia of opinions (often dipped in bitterly abusive expressions), breaking news, wisdom and wit that follows no hierarchy and worships the informed, wittiest and the most acerbic. This is where most people get priceless news-bytes from, getting to read the inside stories that rarely surface in the mainstream media. A place where they get to sharpen their claws, get inspiration for many other posts and manage to achieve their 2 seconds of fame. It’s like they find an audience that’s willing to lend them their ears on every issue that may or not may not be concern to them as a person. Not just them.But also Mr Sehgal, the over-worked executive who commutes 2 hours to get to his office and can air his angst at AAP that’s out to ruin his city… Savita, the homemaker from Indore who has taken Twitter by storm with her Coelho like philosophy…Shobhaa De, the Indian columnist and novelist who happens to have an opinion about everything under the sun, which even after a lot of struggle most people find difficult to comprehend ... it’s as if fame, trolls, worshippers and stalkers were waiting all their lives to find you on Twitter. 

There lies the catch – everyone gets to air their opinions on Twitter, regardless of their maturity, sense and sensibility, most of them in a hurry to give their two cents of wisdom before bothering to verify facts. It’s like – look I’m trying to rant her, stop bothering me with logic and facts. After all, it is the early bird that catches the maximum eyeballs, correctness be damned. But just like it is in real life, the shallow have the loudest voices, with everyone dying to play the judge. The few sane voices are drowned in the cacophony of accusations, counter-accusations and LOLs. A platform that doesn’t think twice before targeting a public figure like Alok Nath, ridiculing his girth, his work, making him sound like a joke just because it’s so much fun! Ironically, at some point of time, we have all been a willing participant to the ridicule public figures are routinely subjected to without even realizing it. 

That’s Twitter – it makes a joke out of serious issues and takes jokes seriously.

But we cannot digress from the fact that it is Social Media that has often played the Knight in shining armour. Often it has come to the rescue of instances of injustice, harassment or apathy that would have been shushed up had it not been for our active voices demanding action. Public opinion coming together as one on public platforms like these has made our leaders grudgingly accept that they can no longer take the electorate for granted.

 It has now emerged from the emails exchanged between Mr Tharoor and Mehar Tarar that theirs was a friendship based on mutual admiration and respect. Their affair was in all probability a figment of Sunanda Pushkar’s imagination. Ms Pushkar was herself in immense pain, both physical and mental, before she went to Twitter to vent her angst. A fragile state of mind knows no logic or reason. I’d rather not speculate the reasons behind her shocking death. The Tharoors deserve privacy in their moment of grief. Sunanda Pushkar was a feisty woman who lived life on her own terms. I pray that her case does not go the Arushi way, her dignity torn to shreds with idle speculations.

The last few days of her life were terrible. Her distress magnified by the national coverage her public meltdown got, exposing her more to ridicule than understanding. Perhaps her case was a reality check Twitter badly needed.

She died feeling unhappy, unloved. But I hope her soul finds peace she deserves.