That is a conversation on twitter between a celebrity, Ranvir Shorey and another tweeter. Ranvir may be a celebrity or not depending on how many films of his you’ve seen and how much you like him.
And I’m not here to pass judgment on whether his language/attitude was right or whether the kind of provocation he got on Twitter justifies his language – those are completely beside the point as far as this post goes.
If you want the background to why all this abuse happened, please do your own research on those Twitter handles – I’m not keen to do that because, again, that is not the point of this post.
So, what is the point, you ask.
The point is simply this – Twitter is not an excuse to get abusive. In fact, on Twitter it is worse – in real life, you abuse and move on. You words go up in the air and perhaps stays with the abusee (!), but online, that abuse stays on forever. One could argue that such online notoriety is good for people in the entertainment business – after all, they seem to think that any PR is good PR. But, for normal people like you and me, this could mean a lot of bad and could haunt us in places and times that we least think is possible.
Ranvir seems to have removed one of his abuses, but by then its screenshot has been captured and retweeted! Imagine – this is what publicists have always warned celebrities about…would you abuse a journalist asking you something provocative? You wouldn’t, unless you have a reputation that is equivalent of a drunk Salman Khan, perhaps. People online are not journalists, but you are still speaking out to the entire world, literally. In real life, you could at least offer an excuse that you have been misquoted…online, the proof is all out there for the world to see!
The other problem is that people do not seem to distinguish between difference of opinion and trolls. Not all those who do not agree with you is a troll. A troll, at least on Wikipedia, is…
In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into a desired emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.
Please do your homework if all/most of those criteria are met to decide who is a troll, before using that word. Chances are, people may simply be disagreeing with your point of view and others may be jumping in the party just because the source is a famous person. There is nothing wrong with a LOT of normal folks disagreeing with a celebrity either. The point here is that we all have a choice, celebrity or not – the choice to remain sane and civil.
Let me explain.
I have always told myself while driving that I need to keep my cool. When someone overtakes me precariously, on the left, I get this incredible urge to abuse that driver. Sometimes, I do too. But the worst happens when the other guy does not respond – when I don’t see any response for my carefully hurled abuse, I get a LOT more riled and do something even more stupid…may be chase that bugger…err, you get the point, huh?
That’s the lesson, online too! Never…ever underestimate the power to ignore. It is not easy and it depends on the kind of provocation you get, but just remember, ignoring it could perhaps be the best way to get over that state, if the debate has gone past logic and reason, into the realm of emotions.
Ignoring does not mean blocking, like celebrities do on Twitter – remember! Blocking could perhaps be tracked by trolls and that could mean more provocation. Ignoring is far more fundamental – you don’t move a single mental muscle on the provocation that arrives, in whatever numbers.
And here’s the clincher! It is far easier to ignore online, than offline. In real life, the provocation could get physical and you’d be forced to react in some way. Online, the provocation will always remain in the realm of text…or, if it gets creative, in the form of pictures or audio…regardless of how many people collectively say it. The best you could do is explain your stand one last time and leave it at that.
You own your reputation online. And you have a choice to improve it. Or destroy it.
Photo by Houtlust, via Flickr.
celebrity or not depending on how many films of his you’ve seen
and how much you like him.
And I’m not here to pass judgements on whether his
language/attitude was right or whether the kind of provocation he
got on Twitter justifies his language – those are completely
beside the point as far as this post goes.
If you want the background to why all this abuse happened, please
do your own research on those Twitter handles – I’m not keen to do
that because, again, that is not the point of this post.
So, what is the point, you ask.
The point is simply this – Twitter is not an excuse to get
abusive. In fact, on Twitter it is worse – in real life, you abuse
and move on. You words go up in the air and perhaps stays with the
abusee (!), but online, that abuse stays on forever. One could
argue that such online noterity is good for people in the
entertainment business – after all, they seem to think that any PR
is good PR. But, for normal people like you and me, this could
mean a lot of bad and could haunt us in places and times that we
least think is possible.
Ranvir seems to have removed one of his abuses, but by then its
screenshots have been captured and retweeted! Imagine – this is
what publicists have always warned celebrities about…would you
abuse a journalist asking you something provocative? You wouldn’t,
unless you have a reputation that is equivalent of a drunk Salman
Khan, perhaps. People online are not journalists, but you are
still speaking out to the entire world, literally.
The other problem is that people do not seem to distinguish
between difference of opinion and trolls. Not all those who do not
agree with you is a troll. A troll, least on Wikipedia, is…
In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory,
extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as
an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary
intent of provoking other users into a desired emotional response
or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.
Please do your homework if all/most of those criteria to decide
who is a toll, before using that word. Chances are, people may
simply be disagreeign with your point of view and others may be
jumping in the party just because the source is a famous person.
There is nothing wrong with a LOT of normal folks disagreeign with
a celebrity either. The point here is that we all have a choice,
celebrity or not – the choice to remain sane and civil.
Let me explain.
I have always told myself while driving that I need to keep my
cool. When someone overtakes me precariously, on the left, I get
this incredible urge to abuse that driver. Sometimes, I do too.
But the worst happens when the other guy does not respond – when I
don’t see any response for my carefully hurled abuse, I get a LOT
more riled and do something even more stupid…may be chase that
bugger…err, you get the point, huh?
That’s the lesson, online too! Never…ever underestimate the
power to ignore. It is not easy and it depends on the kind of
provocation you get, but just remember, ignoring it could perhaps
be the best way to get over that state, if the debate has gone
past logic and reason, into the realm of emotions.
Ignoring does not mean blocking, like celebrities do on Twitter –
remember! Blocking could perhaps be tracked by trolls and that
could mean more provocation. Ignoring is far more fundamental –
you don’t move a single mental muscle on the provocation that
arrives, in whatever numbers.
You own your reputation online. And you have a choice to improve
it. Or destroy it.