The recent resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as union education minister at the persistent insistence of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protestors was attributed to the groundswell reflected in its 2 million members buttressed by 10 million followers on Instagram. The power of social media is undeniably immense but often exaggerated. Online patronage is passive and aligns with the herd mentality magnified by the multiplier effect of social media posts and their geometrical progression. You post a one-liner, and if you have 100 friends on the same social media platform, it quickly transforms into 100 eyeballs and more, depending on the followers each one of those hundred followers has. A laconic ‘like’ tick doesn’t mean the liker really liked your post, which he often does mechanically without bothering to read the content. It is more of a me-too statement made offhandedly with a sense of belongingness. Contrast it with the power of the television news channels.

Television news channels have an intrusive and 12-hour presence in the middle-class drawing rooms, hotels, bars, and airport lounges. They are obsessed with emotional and riveting news doing the rounds, be it Trump pounding Iran or Rahul Gandhi threatening to jolt the Modi government with a hydrogen bomb. A boy trapped in a well hogs headlines for hours and days together until he is extricated by the fire service and other brave hearts.........

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