Harnessing Social Media for Social Reforms

The role of social media in the victory of BJP on a national Level, or the initial success of AAP on a
state level cannot be ignored. Even the current government realises the significance of the role
of social media in information dissemination, and is alert to feedback, and ensures that the
concern are at least addressed verbally.

The power of social media is such that a single video – good or bad – or an image or a leaked
document in any corner of the world can cause mass upheaval elsewhere. Any so called social
media activism begins in private and unfolds in public. A post or information on facebook or
twitter, related to any social issue and beyond, creates an avalanche of sentiments and
support/opposition, albeit online most of the times. Towards measuring the sentiments in
platforms such as twitter, we even have ‘sentiment score’ these days. In short, everyone has a
say in the democratic context of India.

Social reform may be gradual or revolutionary. In this context, being brave online and being
brave enough to lead and sustain it for extended periods of time is different. While the basic of
any social reform is that it begins at home, paying lip service – online and offline – is just a mere
formality.

Once upon a time, social reforms started with the movement by individuals of the likes of Annie
Besant, B.R. Ambedkar, Jamnalal Bajaj, and a long list of personalities, or societies such as ‘The
Brahma Swaraj’ or ‘The Ramakrishna Mission’, etc. They had one thing in common: the start was
small but it caught pace thanks to the vision, leadership, perseverance, and sacrifice of a few.

While the spark of ‘starting small’ may be noticed in social media, the same cannot be said about
implementation, be it gradual or revolutionary. Of course, from better governance perspective,
the value of feedback via social media is priceless. Now extending this to social reforms calls for
merging the ‘voice’ of social media with effective leadership. To put the matter into perspective,
AAP had that advantage and it let that slip.

Social media has huge potential, from driving reform movement on varying scales, to driving
corporate to take up greater responsibilities, and initiating social reforms in baby steps. Tapping
it and leveraging it calls for a leader; the leader can be the Hon’ble Prime minister or a common
man – young or old – with a vision, one who has the patience, foresight and the willingness to go
the extra mile.

Of course there are some areas that one needs to be careful about in the world of social media.
One aspect is the misuse of facts or sentiments and with the followers often not cross-verifying
as can be commonly observed. This small area of laziness may have profound effects. Then there
is the big question mark of identifying the leader to follow. Another key area of concern is social
media independence; those with direct control of the media and with vested interests have the
potential of manipulating it. There are many other related areas in which concern needs to be
exercised.

In the light of aforementioned analysis, social media can indeed be harnessed for social reform if
it is used as a complement, and not substitute, and if the gaps are addressed.