Social Distancing and WhatsApp University...

Social Distancing (or physical distancing) is the new (buzz)word during these testing times. The COVID 19 pandemic caused by Coronavirus has no cure till date and so prevention is the best cure. And after spending a couple of months in lockdown, beating drums and lighting lamps, experts are saying that we might have to learn living with Corona Virus, till the vaccine is invented. But the gloomy situation of nationwide lockdown is making most of the high flyers who (sometimes even unnecessarily) used to be on flight mode anxious. They are now either on WFH (Work from Home) mode or on WhatsApp mode forwarding the latest updates on the Lockdown versions and Corona Virus. Presently, when most of the universities in the world and India is closed due to COVID 19, WhatsApp University, the largest virtual university of our country is running so far ahead of the competition that it does not even need to advertise. It neither requires glossy colourful brochures nor happy students of all shades. It needs no testimonials, no motivational speakers to promote it. It is India’s most trusted source of news, facts and the real truth about everything with 400 million WhatsApp users in India. The motto of WhatsApp University seems to be, seize the moment, don’t hesitate, forward right now…

Waise to yeh sab shastron me likha hai, magar maine whatsapp pe padha hai!

That’s the latest testimony of the success of WhatsApp story. So many chatting apps sprang and are existing, but WhatsApp is the ultimate chatting app, because of its reach. Today, almost every smartphone user is on WhatsApp and the university has become a new laboratory to spread your message in the most effective way with optimization. Initially, when WhatsApp was launched in India, it was used for personal chats and group chats. Before WhatsApp University’s rise, the interesting posts pertaining to religion or politics were forwarded through yahoo groups and google groups. These groups also boasted of Indian National Anthem be the best national anthem amongst all the countries. Of course, it was fake although it massaged our national pride for some time. So much of information is available on the internet, that it becomes difficult for an internet user to differentiate between fact and propaganda.

I remember someone claiming UNESCO conferred the award to Narendra Modi for the best PM of the world, which was obviously a fake post by the same person who shared another fake post of ranking the Congress among the top 10 corrupt parties in the world. And there are many in our new India who believes in such posts of the WhatsApp University ran by the IT Propaganda cells of the political parties than the news channels (maybe because of its reach and speed). The ruling party has a sizable lead on account of being the first to the arena although the opposition parties have also opened their own parallel WhatsApp universities and trying hard to beat the ruling party.

WhatsApp University is the factory of pushing one’s agenda by making the posts viral, be it genuine or propaganda. The beauty of a forward is that it lets us off the hook.  If someone gets killed on suspicion of being a child trafficker, thief or a closet beef-eater because of the forward, it’s not our problem. We are not levelling any accusation; we are merely forwarding. Although the (WhatsApp) memes look spontaneous on the face of it, is a very well thought industry for propagating the agenda to the target audience, within no time. This industry was predominantly responsible for the gathering thousands of workers from other states at Bandra West station in Mumbai defying all the social distancing norms on the last day of the first lockdown. A News anchor and a social media user propagating the news about resuming train service from Mumbai were arrested in this connection. However, this incident had once again highlighted the misuse of social media and particularly WhatsApp in propagating news rather fake news. A news or a video (That might be fake or even edited) is what it needs to spread WhatsApp university’s propaganda, eg. Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Aalu se sona’ video/meme. With many news channels and print media controlled by the members of political parties, a piece of particular news can be forwarded again and again thus making it viral to look true. A forward adds gravitas to whatever random crackpot theory we have. And then the individual opinion of any wise person does not matter. And there are so many fake but believable theories, that we may not otherwise share, face to face.

Jo main bolta hoon, wo main karta hoon, aur jo main nahi bolta, wo main whatsapp karta hoon...

Why does this happen? This question is asked by every responsible citizen and the answer lies in Paul Joseph Goebbels theory. The masters controlling WhatsApp university follows Goebbel’s concept of Big lie which states that “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it”. If you compare this theory with things happening in the country in the last few years, you may believe that rational thinking is dying a slow death in the new India. The new India is now divided by ideologies into Bhakts, Khangressi, Chamche, Aaptards, Libtards, Pseudo-Seculars. The group of Self-taught Smartphone users believe in any half-baked bullshit that goes around on WhatsApp, without even blinking an eye. This group consists of supporters of the ruling party that actively forwards most of the forwarded posts from the IT wings of the political parties. Another group though literates are mostly the descendants of the first group and have been thoroughly brain-washed by the first group into believing that any Secular form of governments is bad. That might be because of the self-centred leaders in the opposition party who instead of concentrating on good governance earlier resorted to minority appeasement politics. So, this group simply believes in WhatsApp and choose not to use the rational part of their brain at all. There is also a group of highly educated and qualified persons (Engineers, Doctors, Administrators, Businessmen, etc.) who logically parse the information and then choose to ignore the facts and believe the fallacies while knowing it. Because somehow, they have been convinced that what ruling party is doing is good. There could be reasons for it, like, they simply hate minorities because they believe that they have been sidelined for so long by earlier governments, a strong belief in the centralization of power, a strong sense of what they think nationalism is, etc.  And then there is also one final group of rational thinkers who still retain the capability to differentiate between moral and immoral, rational and irrational, ethical and unethical and they question everything. Their sense of patriotism is impossible for the other three groups to fathom. This group believe in the core of ideals laid out by our founding fathers like secularism. But this group have a lot of relatives and friends in the three groups mentioned above. And the moment they question anything, their very own people, friends and family members dub them as “Anti-India”, “Anti-National”, “Anti-Hindutva”, “Pseudo-secular”, Khangressi, Chamche, Aaptards, Libtards, etc. All the above four groups co-exist on the WhatsApp University and one can identify himself/herself as a member of at least one of the groups.

But what made WhatsApp so popular to be acquired by Facebook? WhatsApp has become super-successful because it hit our sweet spot, as we felt the power of numbers rather equally empowered. WhatsApp overtook Orkut and Facebook when it came to school reunions, because on school alumni WhatsApp groups, no one had to concede to the annoying know-it-all first-rank boy/ girl anymore. There is a rush to forward sensational news without verifying it because we want to be the first one off the block. WhatsApp gives you the liberty to forward the naughty jokes that makes middle-aged men feel as teenagers. One can understand those who dispense forged medical advice in good faith. But now everyone is in the race to forward and has the access to the truth if they could only find the right WhatsApp forward to back them up. It need not even have to be 100% true anymore. It just needs to sound true enough to forward. However, there is no sound or gesture in the forward, that would make other people understand the real intention behind any post. That’s the reason, this has broken ties amongst many school friends over religious/political views and thus caused social distancing or emotional distancing. Particularly, after 2014, many of the friends have become victims of social distancing due to the political propaganda run by the masters of WhatsApp university. Although Social distancing might be a precaution for COVID 19, the real precaution is to restrict the infodemic causing due to WhatsApp University.

So be alert, be vigilant and don’t spread fake news.

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