A famous analogy with Knife is that you can choose to cut vegetables or cut throats. It's the choice of the person holding it and certainly not something that we can pin on a Knife. It is after all an instrument... for which, we assign a purpose. And... what purpose have we assigned to "Whatsapp"?
I was wondering if I should scribble some pscyho-analytic nonsense about this whole "WHATSAPP" thingy. While thinking if it was a good idea, a few news headlines caught my attention. Looking at the headlines, it felt like global media had latched on to the latest "Mass" frenzy in India driven by Whatsapp messages.
Warning Note: Sorry about the images. But, there isn't an easier way to show what's wrong.
Deadly rumours: India's WhatsApp dilemma
Five Killed in Latest Mob Attack After Rumors on Social Media. Here’s What to Know About India's WhatsApp Murders
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/16/asia/india-whatsapp-lynching-intl/index.html
If anybody called Indians "Naive", please do not argue against it. They might get a whatsapp message that a "potential" child abductor "possibly" looks like you... sent by a guy to whom you loaned some money... and lynch you, because they are naive to believe everything that they see in Whatsapp is true.
What works well for Whatsapp is its ability to evolve as a platform. From text... it has moved to video conferences. From unsecured messaging... it has moved to encrypted communication. It has transformed into a fairly mature platform... ripe to suck us into the "Ad" world since we've voluntarily handed over all our contact details and preferences.
It starts with a simple video... a morning greeting... a pleasant picture. It all seems so harmless.... checking a video and forwarding it. Slowly, it creeps into our schedules... eating minutes at first... turning to hours. We receive messages from friends and think it is true... then, from the groups which we again believe is true. Suddenly, we become very trusting... and, all out contacts in Whatsapp are trustworthy... and, whatever they send has to be True. Whatsapp somehow becomes that small stream of water that ruptures our rock of objectvity. We just react and let our basal instincts take over.
When we see a message... we don't think anymore. We just react.
A warning about child snatchers... collective frenzy to kill the bastardsVideo about worms in burgers ... never step into KFC againAdvisory about fruits... Juice prices through the roofSelfie with dead body... Send crying Emojis or Thumbs up for bravery
It can be such a great enabler... for business... for education... for welfare... for the society. However, the larger audience, somehow, oversee the possibilities. They limit themselves to sending greetings and forwarding videos. Collectively, we've chosen mediocrity over possibilities.
When we've become numb to humor and empathy, our vices prevail. we are nothing but a walking wallet walking down the road paved by Whatsapp with bill-boards of commercial goods or an unintelligent part of a mob baying for blood. Have we ever bothered to check our digital carbon footprint through the million messages that we forward, and what it might cost to offset it. Worse, with each forward... we are not audience anymore... we are active participants... as culpable but not as naive.
Its so convenient to blame an app... for our actions. We are such intelligent people that we impose our vices on a tool. Let us disrobe our social values and blame the platform for our nakedness.
Whatsapp is a good mirror in front of us. It shows us how irresponsible and insensitive we can be... to nature... to society... to humanity.
Whatsapp is popular, convenient and, best of all, free ... Let's offload our sins onto it, my dear fellows.
Original link
I was wondering if I should scribble some pscyho-analytic nonsense about this whole "WHATSAPP" thingy. While thinking if it was a good idea, a few news headlines caught my attention. Looking at the headlines, it felt like global media had latched on to the latest "Mass" frenzy in India driven by Whatsapp messages.
Warning Note: Sorry about the images. But, there isn't an easier way to show what's wrong.
Headlines making waves across the globe
Deadly rumours: India's WhatsApp dilemma
Five Killed in Latest Mob Attack After Rumors on Social Media. Here’s What to Know About India's WhatsApp Murders
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/16/asia/india-whatsapp-lynching-intl/index.html
If anybody called Indians "Naive", please do not argue against it. They might get a whatsapp message that a "potential" child abductor "possibly" looks like you... sent by a guy to whom you loaned some money... and lynch you, because they are naive to believe everything that they see in Whatsapp is true.
History of Whatsapp
Whatsapp is a rather ordinary tool which has been marketed extra-ordinarily well. It is a glorified cousin brother of SMS and MMS. It had a fantastic story of a broke developer who persisted for all of 5 years before being bought over by a technology behemoth for obscene amounts of money. Well... who doesn't like a tragic stories with glorious climaxes :).What works well for Whatsapp is its ability to evolve as a platform. From text... it has moved to video conferences. From unsecured messaging... it has moved to encrypted communication. It has transformed into a fairly mature platform... ripe to suck us into the "Ad" world since we've voluntarily handed over all our contact details and preferences.
Social Science of Whatsapp
Its water on rock... a small stream... harmless and pleasant... it erodes as it goes... rupturing through the hardness of the stone... carving a deep channel for itself.It starts with a simple video... a morning greeting... a pleasant picture. It all seems so harmless.... checking a video and forwarding it. Slowly, it creeps into our schedules... eating minutes at first... turning to hours. We receive messages from friends and think it is true... then, from the groups which we again believe is true. Suddenly, we become very trusting... and, all out contacts in Whatsapp are trustworthy... and, whatever they send has to be True. Whatsapp somehow becomes that small stream of water that ruptures our rock of objectvity. We just react and let our basal instincts take over.
When we see a message... we don't think anymore. We just react.
A warning about child snatchers... collective frenzy to kill the bastardsVideo about worms in burgers ... never step into KFC againAdvisory about fruits... Juice prices through the roofSelfie with dead body... Send crying Emojis or Thumbs up for bravery
Economics of Whatsapp
Any smart "Data Scientist" can correlate the whatsapp and facebook accounts to find out everything to be found out about you... the secret chats... everything about family and friends, and their dogs... places you've been to... places you might potentially plan to go... the photos of your close ones... videos of places you like. Active Whatsapp UsersWith passage of time, we may not see anything that doesn't fit our profile, preference or interest. And, what better way to find this other than analyzing what messages you send... to whom... at what time?Whatsapp... Is it all wrong?
Whatsapp is such a fantastic platform that can be used in so many ways. It elevates messaging to sharing experiences... seeing places that we've never been to... finding recipes of interesting food... exchanging assignments... sending group messages... sending SOS when in danger... advance warnings about impending storms... sharing location to trace the lost ones.It can be such a great enabler... for business... for education... for welfare... for the society. However, the larger audience, somehow, oversee the possibilities. They limit themselves to sending greetings and forwarding videos. Collectively, we've chosen mediocrity over possibilities.
Whatsapp... A convenient excuse
When we've become numb to humor and empathy, our vices prevail. we are nothing but a walking wallet walking down the road paved by Whatsapp with bill-boards of commercial goods or an unintelligent part of a mob baying for blood. Have we ever bothered to check our digital carbon footprint through the million messages that we forward, and what it might cost to offset it. Worse, with each forward... we are not audience anymore... we are active participants... as culpable but not as naive.
Its so convenient to blame an app... for our actions. We are such intelligent people that we impose our vices on a tool. Let us disrobe our social values and blame the platform for our nakedness.
Whatsapp is a good mirror in front of us. It shows us how irresponsible and insensitive we can be... to nature... to society... to humanity.
Whatsapp is popular, convenient and, best of all, free ... Let's offload our sins onto it, my dear fellows.
Original link
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