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| India in the ‘Social Networking’ Scene |
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| Feb 18, 2010 Published in content
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| Keywords: Facebook, India, Indian IT act, Jonathan Schwartz, Mumbai, public domain, Shashi Tharoor, Social Networking, Sun’s CEO, tweet, Twitter
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 Social networking sites in India seem to be gathering more storm as they become more active than ever before and part and parcel of the ‘social’ Indian’s lifestyle. A semblance of ‘cult’ impact is being witnessed as Indians begin to conform to unconventional, untraditional methods of social networking. When Sun’s CEO, Jonathan Schwartz, recently tweeted his resignation on February 3, it created a furore, the world sat up and noticed. Imagine a scenario such as this in India, when on an early morning, you receive tweets such as “I quit”, “I resign” or for that matter, “I divorced you”, you would be shaken out of your wits. Though such an occurrence would be a rarity given the psyche of an Indian, the possibility now exists in the changing scenario in India. Already, social site postings are being used as evidence in courts in India.
With the cumulative Indian social network users exceeding over 35 million recently, (Orkut recording 15.5 million users, followed by Facebook with 10.3 million users, LinkedIn at 2.2 million users and Twitter at 1.4 million users, according to online audience measurement site Vizisense), amendments made to the Indian IT act last October are being quoted for usage of these messages. These messages are being accorded status of ‘publishing in public domain’ and therefore, would be subject to laws in the country. As per the amendments, the users will be solely responsible for the content they put up.
We go on and on…
Despite misgivings regarding its manifold ramifications, Indians continue to tweet on. Shashi Tharoor, the former United Nations under-secretary general, now in charge of Africa, West Asia and Latin America at India’s foreign ministry, has also reiterated his commitment to Twitter, the microblogging site where his posts have been controversial. He adds that “Twitter is an extraordinarily interactive broadcast (medium)”. Tharoor also received a rap, when he trivialised a certain issue pertaining to security in India and was given a piece of his mind by Minister of External Affairs S M Krishna. The Minister informed the press that such differences in “perception” should be aired within the ‘four walls’ of the ministry. Yet, in the process, Tharoor has made a few adjustments in his way of dealing with issues and pushing transparency in the system. He has been invited by Twitter as a lead performer, having recorded about 656,338 followers.
Indians have taken to tweeting and being on Facebook as naturally as the proverbial ducks to water. Not just urban Indians but Indian uncles and aunts too have hopped on to the bandwagon. One can see posts on a wide variety of topics - planning the big, fat Indian weddings or the ‘mehndi’ parties to how to play ‘housie’. You can invariably find recently graduated Kellogg Indian MBAs giving advice to uncles and aunties on how to approach the foreign universities for admission – all on Facebook. Soon Indians need not look out too far for their entire family tree; they can easily find it on Facebook. Considering the fact that most Indians are born chatty, it’s in their blood you know! Its only natural that they chat on and on.
The ‘Give and Take’ continues
There have been several positive events happening on the social networking front. The give and take between the social networking sites and users in India too goes on with numbers almost doubling annually. Among the more popular Indian users gaining ground are the latest crop of actors and several Indian CEOs and public figures. In true democratic fashion, a great Indian ‘tamasha’ was enacted on these sites, when the country recently gave out messages in support of Mumbai being part of India and for all Indians. And the results are there for everyone who voiced their opinion.
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