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October 2017 Edition of Power Politics is updated.  Happy Diwali to all our subscribers and Distributors       October 2017 Edition of Power Politics is updated.   Happy Diwali to all our subscribers and Distributors       
Issue:Sep' 2017

SOCIAL CHURNING

What on earth is whatsapp

Elsa Lycias Joel

What on earth is whatsapp! I don't dare to exclaim aloud for I know the many varieties of reply I would get in terms of looks and words. Everybody is into it. Why has whatsapp become such a big thing now? As all of us know it's an idea whose time came long ago even before I realized why people stopped responding to my short messages or handmade greeting cards or hand written letters. Part of the logical explanation is that it is due to the technological developments in the past decade.
To wish hundreds of people in one go, whether we know them or not, like them or not, with the same greeting was impossible before the dawn of mobile phones, whatsapp and emails. Physically moving from place to place to do so would cost us a lot of time, energy and money. Today, thanks to IT revolution, increased bandwidth and similar stuff that helps even good news and forwards travel fast, far and wide.
What started as a trickle few years ago as message forwarding business (defined as task based forwarding, which is basically people of all age groups bothering each other across the globe) has now become a tidal wave. One category of forwarders assume they do well enough to generate awareness about anything to everything, even going to the extent of not letting people eat or drink what they choose to or can afford to. This category of whatsappers is happy with the success they've had until today with the emergence of food and drinks that are hard to find or even pronounce, forget consuming.
"Exceptions are the rule" and true as it can be, 'paying it forward' happens when the forward reaches the inbox of a Good Samaritan. There is a now a clear shift from real personal interactions to fake, virtual and whatsapp chats. Emotions have replaced real emotions. People who send me varieties of emotions are unable to display any emotion when I meet them in person. Or, it should have something to do with my goof-ups that I always send some random emotion as I'm still struggling to learn what each one means. Sooner or later there will be universities offering courses on emotions helping people like me. I wasn't very much surprised until I learnt how whatsapp influences people living in remote villages. For instance, my grandmother's neighbour for 40 years spent her entire day focusing on stealthily letting her goats graze my grandmother's garden and backyard. This has moved up the ladder into whatsapp chatting with my grandmother on an everyday basis to know her whereabouts so that her task of feeding goats becomes easier.
A sting operation revealed that the not-so-wise neighbour has very limited knowledge on whatsapp and WiFi and believes that my grandmother speaks nothing but the truth. That somebody isn't online means that somebody isn't home.

Soon after turning off the WiFi my grandmother gets ready with her catapult and pebbles. So, directly or indirectly technology keeps people busy.
Demonetization or GST or come what may, the whatsapp user boom in India isn't likely to face competition from anywhere, any part of the universe as we outsource whatsapping, on need, to anyone who is awake and alert to change the world. Unbelievable as I may sound, many in my contact list outsource their duty to toddlers at home and I end up reading stuff that resemble a coding language for scribble icon. Or if is this a conspiracy to not let me get my beauty sleep is my other doubt.
With the scorching pace of group growth seen, quality has been suffering. Group hopping is the rule of the day. And there is a noticeable absence of group admin (administration) management. These are growing pains to whatsapp fans.
The optimists aka (also known as) hyperactive group members expect the group admin to settle down with offenders aka inactive group members who also have another profession, iron out teething troubles, reach a level of maturity and recreate a group with a different name, one that would pull and inspire a few more responsible 24x7 active members who would check messages once a minute.
People everywhere, in homes, workplaces, any form of transport are busy exchanging ideas and information as to how they handled demonetization and how India should be transformed into a super power. Cellular or otherwise. Till noon everyone are busy clearing 'good morning' or 'Good day' or 'Happy Birthday' wishes from hundreds of people to make space for 'Good Noon' wishes and life goes on.
School goers have class groups where everything except academics is discussed. Those who aren't part of such groups are treated as though they don't belong to this planet or century. Understandable because in classrooms they don't find enough time to discuss whose whatsapp DP is cool, the number of messages they received and forwarded and who owns the latest iphone. Names and description of iphones are such that

Happily or sadly, many employees realize whatsapping robs them of their promotions and even jobs. In my friend's two page report tabled in her home last weekthe family members admitted that non-stop whatsapping inside and outside home did more harm, thereby vindicating the stand taken by an anti nonstop whatsapp volunteer, the only one in the neighbourhood without a smart phone, who first blew the whistle.

a teacher overhearing a student discuss it would assume it to be maths or chemistry or physics. Happily or sadly, many employees realize whatsapping robs them of their promotions and even jobs. In my friend's two page report tabled in her home last week- the family members admitted that non-stop whatsapping inside and outside home did more harm, thereby vindicating the stand taken by an anti non-stop whatsapp volunteer, the only one in the neighbourhood without a smart phone, who first blew the whistle. The whole neighbourhood is deliberating if or not my friend and the volunteer should be introduced to the new world of smart phones and whatsapp.

Now that stricter standards for non-stop whatsapping are on the anvil at her home, the issue of 'what is normal/safe' threatens to get embroiled in unnecessary controversy engaging a new breed of professionals called as whatsapp counselors. Whatsapp while taking a dump, under the shower, in the kitchen, behind the wheels or when, where and how is whatsapp considered to be safe/normal is emerging to a topic of research among youngsters who understand this to be a better reason for them to handle whatsapp throughout their lives, awake or asleep.
Just as a good medicine the right dose of anything with regard to social media is a remedy and not poisonous. So the few and wise, also named as technologically challenged by the many technology savvy ones, can only hope that whatsapp users would at least come close to determining the right dose. With it, the house establishment can address the larger issue of abuse and quarantine, as and when necessary. In many homes, parental attempts at control are very vehement, but sadly it all stops at an attempt as they themselves are busy answering and forwarding.
Modern society is indeed characterized by a paradoxical set of attributes when it comes to realities of life. There is much obsession about the number of contacts just as 'Likes' in FB, an urge to change the whatsapp DP or status, thoroughly pissed off with those who don't care to update their status message but very little human pro-social sentiments.
In the face of this churning, I conclude that a punitive attempt to turn back the clock will not work but educating people, not through whatsapp, on the use and abuse of whatsapp will.
Meanwhile, my loved ones are coming to terms with my year old status "Battery about to die" and don't whatsapp me to find out if I'm alright.