Are you really laughing when you are writing LOL and do you really mean it when you show love/hate expressions on social media networks? Are the emotions expressed on social media real or fake? These questions pop up on a daily basis asking about the credibility of this virtual world. The answer is not simple; the feelings expressed can be genuine, forged or a mixture of both.
Virtual world has given us a chance to modify our image; it gives us an opportunity to portray ourselves the way we want to. This image is based on what we actually want to be. It normally reflects the aspirations and desires. It certainly may be not be a real picture, but it is a desirable picture for us. Thus, it is difficult to judge the validity of that picture portrayed on the social media.
There is more to social media then merely a pretty self-picture. Virtual world has given us an opportunity to express our opinions. The opinions which were hidden deep inside our hearts and minds can be expressed more freely now. We want to tell the world what we believe and this results in more difference of opinion. An opinionated society is an appreciable quality but certainly it has led to more disintegration of the society as we haven’t yet learnt how to sacrifice our opinion and unite on a common ground. It has created polarization in the society and everyone is stuck strictly on one extreme or another; thanks to the ‘’freedom of speech’’. Additionally, social media has given us the access to people across the globe and psychographics have certainly become more important than demographics.
In this scenario, it has become very easy to manipulate the situation. Sentimental news can break up across the borders within no time and everybody on the social media will be talking about it. A recent case of Shamsul Anwar is an eye opener. His story (fabricated) was published in a trusted daily newspaper with high sensuality elements in it, targeting the soft hearted people across the country and the news became viral. The authenticity of the news item was not questioned in itself because of the brand names associated with it, the heart wrenching plight of the ‘poor defender of the nation’ paying a ‘high price’ and the ‘deadlines of the abductors’ mentioned in this article. On humanitarian grounds, the people like Marvi Sirmed, Ansar Burney, Awab Alvi and My Bit for Change joined hands for the cause, regardless of their political opinions. Here are some tweets regarding this issue:
‘’marvisirmed Marvi Sirmed
Good progress on #JusticeForShamsulAnwar. Political, military authorities on board. We are now waiting for the abductors’ call @AnsarBurney
marvisirmed Marvi Sirmed
#JusticeForShamsulAnwar Dear all, please use your influence and contacts to help him bit.ly/xxveY8 Buy time, collect money. Whatever
marvisirmed Marvi Sirmed
#JusticeForShamsulAnwar @AnsarBurney is on it. might be traveling to Isd for this. Hope he can help set up an emergency fund too
MyBitforChange My Bit for Change
“RT@AshAijaz: @AnsarBurney May Allah give you courage and accept your efforts. Thank you so much! #JusticeForShamsulAnwar”
AshAijaz Aisha Aijaz
Thinking of Madina Anwar and her distressed family. May Allah protect you and you return safe dear. #JusticeForShamsulAnwar
10 Jan
Retweeted by MyBitforChange
But, unfortunately (or fortunately) the whole case turned out to be a fraud. Now this situation can be looked upon at two different angles. On one side, it’s the problem of social media that anything can become viral without any authenticity or validity associated with it. But on the other hand, it also shows the power of social media to unite the people of different ideologies on a single cause.
Another dimension to this whole episode is that people give more attention to sensuality. It’s a sad reality, my own blog right next to the shamsul anwar’s story, which was about a genuine school system for the poor kids but attracted very few people. It shows the mentality of our society, we focus less on positive things and negative things pop up out of proportion. The baseless story caught hearts of people because it was written in a very sentimental manner. Everybody wanted to contribute to the cause and thus the story became viral. The freedom of expression and opinion provided by the social media was utilized to its fullest. But I see a ray of hope in all this. If such sentiments can be shown for a fake story, a real problem will attract more people I believe and it surely has, in the past. I believe the emotions expressed on the virtual world were real, though they were exploited badly.
The newspaper and the journalist owe an explanation to the Nation on this issue; but simultaneously we should not feel let down. Rather it was an indication that this nation can become united on humanitarian grounds and dig its pockets in need without a second thought. The spark is already there, it needs to be ignited only. And yes, for all those who sent their monies out should be reminded, their rewards with God are safe according to their intentions.