“I have never used Twitter”, this statement by Mr. Obama in China in November last year drew shock waves from all over the world media as if Mr. Obama had committed a serious crime against the Nation. This is because Mr. President has an existing twitter profile that he started at the time of his election campaign. It already has over 2.6 Million followers and Mr. President must credit this social connecting site as one of the factors that ensured his win in the elections. Thus, “Tweeting” now has become a social symbol that signifies that you are well connected to the people around and that you know what their likes and dislikes are which is very important for a “Leader”.
The most noticeable thing in the above event is that amongst students in China Mr. Obama was asked a question about his twitting habits and that too when China has banned Twitter on its soil. What do you think is the reason behind asking this question? This comes out of the curiosity of the public to know that how much this man cares for his people, cares of the actual ground conditions and the reactions of people on the ongoing events in the country even when he’s busy with other things. I liked the media reaction on this statement as it encourages the leaders to interact with people across the country through these sites.
But, the question which I have in mind is that why is the Indian Media reluctant to this habit of our leaders. They had the above incident of Uncle Sam in their headlines, but at the same time they condemn and restrict our “Twitting Class” of politicians. Why? Why is Mr. Tharoor being opposed and criticized by media barons in their articles? Is he not doing the right thing by breaking the old wall between the political class and the public? Is he not doing something Out-of-the-Box which is desperately required for our better
political system?
One of the media people whom I admire the most, Mr. Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN-IBN, has criticized Mr. Tharoor’s twitting act citing the secrecy of facts related to his profession. In return I asked him about that particular tweet of the minister that he feels has compromised the security of our country. What he tweets are generally his own views about the current events and in return he gets in touch with the youth of the country. Why can’t the media intellectuals see this as an efficient way of driving youth towards our political system?
Unfortunately, the same intellectual has termed Twitter as a tool better for Celebrities and Journalists like him to increase their USP. I apologize to Mr. Sardesai but I don’t think this is the truth. I think these social sites are no more just an entertainment hub but rather have become a place for some serious business and issues which affect our lives. Mr. Tharoor has instigated a new “Twitting Class” of Indian politicians in the system. At least now some of them can be termed as “Leaders” and not mere politicians. And I hope our Media people will support this change in the system rather than criticizing it.
Thanks
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