RSA 2016

govtech.com (USA), RSA 2016: Terror Groups Propagate, Recruit on Social Media Platforms with Greater Efficiency "John Carlin, assistant attorney general for national security at the DOJ, said groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, ISIS, IS) are using popular social media platforms to propagate and recruit with greater efficiency than ever before." Not exactly a headline

'Police close more than 1,000 terrorist websites and social media accounts every week'

Daily Star, Police close more than 1,000 terrorist websites and social media accounts every week, 6 Mar 2016 "The Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit � a police squad which fights online extremism � has removed 140,000 items of propaganda in the past five years."

'Owning Qadri, disowning Sharmeen'

The Nation, Owning Qadri, disowning Sharmeen, 3 Mar 2016 "#WeDisownSharmeen was the top social media trend on February 29. On a day the most illustrious terrorist in Pakistan was executed, petrol prices were slashed by almost 12% and Pakistan won an important cricket match at the Asia Cup, the most urgent message that the nation wanted to give out on social media was its denunciation of its only

Anti-Islamic Memes

Rose Deighton, huffingtonpost.com, Anti-Islamic Memes: The Ugly Side of Ignorance on the Internet, 29 Feb 2016

'How the changing media is changing terrorism'

Jason Burke, Guardian, How the changing media is changing terrorism, 25 Feb 2016 "New technologies have not only made it possible to produce propaganda with astonishing ease � they have also made it far easier to disseminate these films and images."

'Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World'

The new edition of the 'Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World', edited by Richard C. Martin (Gale, 2016) is out. It includes a small contribution from myself, on Islam and social media.

Leading Indian newspapers on social media: Times of India ahead in English newspapers, TV channels overall leaders, Jagran leads in Hindi

Social media has revolutionized the news world.

With more hits coming from Facebook [and Twitter], media groups are increasingly focusing on promoting their content on these sites.

'Likes', 'Shares' and 'Retweets' (RTs) are now used to gauge popularity of stories, reports and articles.

Most media organisations want 'content' that does well on social media.

Facebook is now considered more a platform that sends hits, rather than Twitter.

Twitter works in a different way but first, we shall look at the Facebook presence of Indian media.

Indian Media on Facebook, Twitter

All those busy in making strategy for social media, talk about Clicks and Eyeballs. The clicks [hits] are obtained through smart, catchy and even sensational [misleading] headlines.

Especially, Hindi media is doing it more to grab eyeballs. The major media groups that have strong presence on the ground, are doing well on the social media too.

But there are exceptions too. Some papers with huge circulation, don't have strong social media presence.

When you 'like' a page, you automatically become a follower and hence a consumer of its content. The more 'likes' and 'followers', a media company has on Facebook, the more is the reach of its content.

And, it not only brings advertisement revenue but also increases the brand value of the company. The media groups also use different ways, even spending money to drive campaigns for more 'followers'.

ENGLISH MEDIA

Times of India is the clear leader on Facebook. It has more than 79.38 lakh or 7.9 million likes [followers]. However, the surprise is that 'The Hindu', which is considered more traditional, is second in the list with 44.17 lakh or 4.4 million Facebook likes.

Hindustan Times has 41.33 lakh likes which puts it at the third place. Indian Express is also catching up fast now, though it was far behind till recently. Express has nearly 35 lakh 'likes'. Deccan Chronicle follows.

Among other English media, the weekly India Today has a strong following on Facebook. It posts content of dailyO as well. India Today has nearly 73 lakh or 7.3 lakh followers, which puts it among the most influential news brands on Facebook, in India.

Times of India 79.38 lakh [nearing 8 million]
The Hindu 43 lakh or 4.3 million
HT 39.68 lakh
Indian Express 34.69 lakh
Deccan Chronicle 13.98 lakh

TV CHANNELS' INFLUENCE: Aaj Tak, ABP leaders on Facebook

When it comes to TV channels, Aaj Tak and ABP News are the leaders. Aaj Tak is at the TOP. In fact, the two channel leads in all the segments as they are far ahead of English, Hindi and regional papers too, on Facebook.

Both Aaj Tak and ABP have crossed 10 million or 1 crore figure on Facebook. It is followed by NDTV, Zee News, Times Now, IBNlive.com, India TV and IBN 7. There are many other channels too, with over a million followers on this social networking website.

Aaj Tak 1.1 crore plus [10.1 million]
ABP News 1 crore plus [100 lakh], more than 10 millions
NDTV 58 lakh or 5.8 million
Zee News 51.86 lakh
Times Now 40.17 lakh
IBNlive.com 37.21 lakh
India TV 42.36 lakh
IBN 7 27.37 lakh

JAGRAN leads Hindi newspapers

Dainik Jagran 84.21 lakh or 8.4 million
Bhaskar 78.48 lakh
Amar Ujala 39.86 lakh
Navbharat Times Online 36.71 lakh
Punjab Kesari 29.07 lakh

SOME OTHER NOTABLE NEWS SOURCES WITH HIGH REACH ON FACEBOOK

Quint 31.40 lakh or 3.1 million
24 Ghanta 29.32 lakh [Bangla]
ABP Ananda 27.12 lakh
Manorama [Malayalam] 21.27 lakh
Mathrubhumi 18.66 lakh [Malayalam]
The Siasat Daily 12.64 lakh [Urdu]

For those interested in New Media, see the link below:
Top ten 'New Media' websites in India. LINK

*The figures above will keep changing, increase, in most cases. The data is for January 24, 2016.

Imam, cats and social media

Independent, i100, An Imam in Istanbul has opened up his mosque to the city's stray cats, 17 Jan 2016 "Efe is well known in the city for his "good humour and diligence", the Daily Sabah reports - but a video Efe took of a mother cat taking her kittens from the street into the safety of the mosque has given his everyday acts of compassion a global audience."

Pay to get more Facebook 'likes', more 'followers' on Twitter: Unfair practices on social media?

Social media giants Facebook & Twitter have lately come up with similar plans for users who want 'greater clout' or 'more audience'.

If you pay money, you have the option to get more Facebook 'likes' and more Twitter 'followers'.

But is it fair? Content is not the king anymore.

Someone who has extra dollars or rupees, to spend, can use it for branding and get thousands of 'real or unreal' followers on Twitter.

Similar is the case with Facebook. Here, a person can 'buy' the 'likes' for his/her page. Where's the level-playing field on social media?

That's the fundamental question.

I don't feel it is fair. These companies initially had no such schemes but once they reached a level where they are opinion makers and dominate our lives, they have come up with these schemes.

Personally, I don't like it. It's like, you can't earn numbers or grades, so just pay for it. Is it fair? 

Take for example, movie personalities, TV persons, sport stars or anybody who came late on these platforms, and have less followers.

Or those who don't have anything interesting to share but feel upset that others have more likes or followers, can avail these schemes.

They can just pay money and get past the people who genuinely earned the following.

If you pay, Twitter shows your profile to many more people as 'suggested' in 'Who to Follow' advisory on the top right.

If you pay, your page is displayed to more people who are suggested by Facebook, to like the page.

On Facebook, you get option to target people in particular region or people of a particular age group.

We like it or not, Facebook and Twitter dominate our lives so much, that we have to live with it--their policies. They are here for business, aren't they. And that's what business is!!!

Ramadan and Eid in the social media age

Misusing social media to spread communalism in the society: Messages on WhatsApp, Facebook inflaming passions, causing riots

If the society is increasingly getting communalised and people belonging to different communities are turning into religious bigots, it should be a cause of alarm.

Across India, 'objectionable' posts on Facebook or circulation of messages on WhatsApp are leading to communal tension and riots.

In small towns, people come out on streets and mob resort to violence after seeing a post. We can no longer say that it is a transition phase for society and that people will get over it.

First, it was Facebook, which was being misused to spread false messages and propaganda. Now, it is Whatsapp that is being flooded with communal messages.

It seems that there are factories to manufacture hate-filled messages, on a regular basis. In fact, messages that are factually incorrect are floated, purposely, part of a conspiracy to turn Hindus and Muslims against each other.

Hate-mongering, morphed images

For example, a mischief maker just takes any photo, puts a few words along with it, using PhotoShop or Paintshop, and uploads it. Soon, the like-minded start liking or sharing it, as if it is a certified intellectual's quote.

Even educated persons who are supposed to be discernible and know the truth, are taken in, and believe it as truth. By consistently posting these messages, the aim is to paint the other group as absolute villain and enemy.

A photo of a person being lynched in neighbouring country is passed off as a scene from a particular place in India, and a particular group is blamed. These images go viral and even if one or two persons see the falsehood, the voices don't matter much.

The impact, reach of WhatsApp

Both fundamentalist Hindus and Muslims are involved in this act. Also, many ordinary people, without verifying or bothering to check the information, believe these messages and forward them. Sharing in WhatsApp, takes the messages to even more people.

The hate in many of these messages is chilling. No longer a person needs newspaper or TV channel to spread his message. He can simply write a few lines and in photo form if it is posted, many seem believe the message. Many might not believe these messages.

Daily propaganda turning people fanatic

However, when you see such messages on a daily basis, your degree of suspicion towards other group increased. So those who were liberal turn into fundamentalist, the slight communal into communal and the communal become ultra-communal, seeing the propaganda day in and day out.

Education should bring enlightenment but sadly a large number of people are getting affected by false propaganda on the social networking websites. While social media has its benefits and guarding freedom of expression is important, it is also imperative that those injecting hate in society, should be dealt with sternly.

How many around to spread message of communal harmony?

The reason is that messages on communal harmony aren't spread. There are no organisations flush with funds to do it with a missionary zeal. But those who are overcome by hate or have an agenda, act with a passion. Hence, communal messages flood the virtual world.

Till a few years ago, it was a small section that used Twitter. Facebook was used more often. However, with smartphones being used to check social media, the situation has turned extremely serious. Facebook is used by teenagers and elders in villages too.

Communalism reaches villages through smart phones

WhatsApp is being misused even more. People form their own groups and become 'admins'. There are people who run dozens of groups and spread hate, not just in cities, but in rural parts of the country.

Whatever happened in Muzaffarnagar earlier this year was a reflection of it. People in villages who were not afflicted by the communal bug also turned communal. The power of WhatsApp can be understood by the way it helped spread of the message of BJP.

The right-wing support ensured that the party got a huge success in Uttar Pradesh (UP). While BJP may term itself moderate, its sister organisations are known for their hardcore right-wing ideology. Members of these organisations are known for their communal diatribe.

It is not that other communities aren't involved in it. There are many Muslims who post objectionable messages and circulate them. Sadly, on both sides, there are less saner voices. We need statesmen, real leaders to tell the youths of nation, to get out of this hate business. It hurts the nation like nothing else.

READ POSTS ON SAME ISSUE ON THIS BLOG EARLIER

1. How to deal with communal messages, hate speech and misinformation on social media?

2. Rising Racism: Of online bigots, communal comments and casteist messages on internet

3. Playing flue to buffalow: How to deal with online trolls

4. Abusive messages, comments and this blog