,
8 tweets,
2 min read
Read on Twitter
One of the most thought-provoking, though barely scrutinised, aspects of India's 'world's biggest elections' is this: in the last couple of years many individual 'influencers' have risen to great power in India. In public imagination, these are a by-product of tech or tech plus
good cadre work of political parties. But this might not be the entire story. While some are genuinely active and keen individuals, and some, enthusiastic party workers, there are several others about whom we know very little. Who are these people, what work did they do in
the past, what are their credentials and indeed credibility, who have they earlier worked with, who knows them - all these questions should be easy to answer, as they are about usual working journalists. But in several key cases, the answers to these questions are fuzzy - at best
- and I at least do not believe that this is an accident. There are no accidents. In an age where an election that was to be influenced by Facebook and Twitter, but perhaps will be influenced even more by Tik Tok, these are issues and questions worth thinking about. A lot of
what we see as 'performance' doesn't just appear on its own. It is made to appear. It has a process. It comes from somewhere. In such matters, it would be lazy to assume that these are just 'ordinary citizens' (some maybe but it is worth double checking all the same). To repeat
nothing is an accident.
This is not to suggest only journalists can influence political public opinion. Of course not. But even members of the public who become influencers ought to have clear backgrounds that are easy to connect. They are usually part of communities and discussion groups. But in this
case, there are many examples of lone eagles. We know little of anything about them or their communities. It is almost as if they exist only in their social media accounts. This I do not believe is an accident.
