If you have an existence on social networking sites, you could not have missed a portly Korean man prancing around in extraordinary goofy style which is now "Gangnam Style" the most viewed and liked video in the history of Youtube.
Some time back, another video sung quiet off-key by Southern Actor Dhanush "Kolaveri Di" was the talk of town, this very ordinary piece of singing reaching a far greater reach than imagined. Clearly in this era of the highly networked world, an Internet connection and social media channels like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube, ideas both good, bad, ugly and funny can resonate across the world.
Takes me back to the song Friday by Rebecca Black which was derided by people all over the world, imagine the kind of rejection the poor girl would have faced. Still the criticism stayed virtual or the trolls who hound celebs, journalists with vulgar and crude language.
Sadly another video found a much larger audience than it should have, "The innocence of Muslims" a disparaging video made by mischievous elements with extremely poor production values and the voices overdubbed so even the actors were taken for a ride.
Such an ugly video, found credence and has been circulated by the same social media channels which promote so much of mirth to become a weapon of hate, leading to deaths and damage to people and property. A mob killing an envoy, bomb killing Russians and South Africans in Afghanistan and attacks on Norwegian embassies and protests worldwide.
The Innocence of Muslims is not the only ugly video on the Internet, there are lots of hate videos against Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs.
The violence has promoted many nations to block social media sites. Censorship will only take the world on a slippery road, and violence over hate speeches and thoughts will only increase the fault-lines in the society.
Social Media is not the cause of unrest but only an medium for amplification. I hope in not so distance future only Kolaveri ( Murderous rage) is reserved for the likes of Dhanush and people learn to take things in stride and live life "Gangnam Style".
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. In fact have the wisdom to reject hateful thoughts.
Some time back, another video sung quiet off-key by Southern Actor Dhanush "Kolaveri Di" was the talk of town, this very ordinary piece of singing reaching a far greater reach than imagined. Clearly in this era of the highly networked world, an Internet connection and social media channels like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube, ideas both good, bad, ugly and funny can resonate across the world.
Takes me back to the song Friday by Rebecca Black which was derided by people all over the world, imagine the kind of rejection the poor girl would have faced. Still the criticism stayed virtual or the trolls who hound celebs, journalists with vulgar and crude language.
Sadly another video found a much larger audience than it should have, "The innocence of Muslims" a disparaging video made by mischievous elements with extremely poor production values and the voices overdubbed so even the actors were taken for a ride.
Such an ugly video, found credence and has been circulated by the same social media channels which promote so much of mirth to become a weapon of hate, leading to deaths and damage to people and property. A mob killing an envoy, bomb killing Russians and South Africans in Afghanistan and attacks on Norwegian embassies and protests worldwide.
The Innocence of Muslims is not the only ugly video on the Internet, there are lots of hate videos against Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs.
The violence has promoted many nations to block social media sites. Censorship will only take the world on a slippery road, and violence over hate speeches and thoughts will only increase the fault-lines in the society.
Social Media is not the cause of unrest but only an medium for amplification. I hope in not so distance future only Kolaveri ( Murderous rage) is reserved for the likes of Dhanush and people learn to take things in stride and live life "Gangnam Style".
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. In fact have the wisdom to reject hateful thoughts.
No comments:
Post a Comment