Social Media Conclave of TN Young Thinkers Forum: Here’s What Was Trending

Tamil Nadu Young Thinkers Forum (TNYTF) organised its first Social Media Conclave on 18 November 2017 in Chennai. The conclave which was attended by over 250 netizens touched various topical issues of contemporary interest and current trends, keeping the Tamil social media platforms in mind.

The conclave was organised by TNYTF in association with the ARR Charitable Trust at RR Sabha in Mylapore, Chennai and Swarajya was the official media partner.

The conclave was inaugurated by the Minister for Tamil, Art and Culture, Archaeology and Museums, Ma Foi K Pandiarajan and had an impressive list of panellist from varied backgrounds. An engaging and informative discussion ensued only because of the multi-faceted inputs offered by the distinguished speakers.

Pandiarajan highlighted the increasing role of social media in our lives, by first tracing the evolution of media from print to television to internet via social media. He brought out the crucial role social media played during the aftermath of Chennai floods, the Jallikattu protests, and Cyclone Vardah. He also pointed out that Tamil had slipped in its position in language usage on internet platforms from two to 10 and urged the audience to restore its pre-eminent position.

Member of Afghanistan Youth Parliament from Kabul, Allah Mohammad Kakar, was the guest of honour.

The first panel on current trends in social media in Tamil Nadu, included journalist and anchor of Thanthi TV, Ashokha Varshini, entrepreneur and investment thinker, Shyam Sekhar, CEO of Swarajya Prasanna Vishwanathan, and columnist for UnReal, Ashwin Kumar.

The panel discussed the current trends in social media in Tamil Nadu and drew attention to the sharp polarisation of Tamil Nadu social media users, the increasing use of social media by political parties and affiliates, and the agitation politics - a recent trend in Tamil Nadu that gets amplified by social media. The ubiquitous presence of memes in Tamil dominated the discussion.

What followed this high-octave, yet insightful panel was the discussion on Citizen Participation in Governance and Role of Social Media. The panellists included television anchor and commentator, Sumanth Raman, deputy commissioner of the Intelligence division in Chennai City Police, R Thirunavakarasu, blogger and social media professional, Kiruba Shankar, and lastly Founder of Satya Vijayi, Anand C P.

The second panel saw Thirunavakarasu giving valuable insights on how the police use social media to keep people safe. He revealed that the anonymity provided by the social media is a myth and that the police can track abusers and anti-social elements within no time at all. It was also highlighted as to how ministers such as the Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj uses social media for responding to crises. It was concluded with suggestions to the ministers and bureaucrats in Tamil Nadu to adopt such practices.

Post this, the last panel conferred on Enhancing the Quality of Public Discourse in Social Media in Tamil Nadu. The panellists were editor-in-chief of The News Minute, Dhanya Rajendran, author, consulting editor, and columnist for News Laundry, Anand Ranganathan, singer, Chinmayi Sripaada and finally, political analyst and social activist, Banu Gomes

Being the last panel didn’t bring the energies down. It was a power packed panel which voiced the futility of trying to control social media, as the users come from very diverse backgrounds. The highlight of this panel discussion was how to deal with media trolls. What was first suggested was to ignore provocative trolling, since any response only begets further trolling. The importance of seeking timely police intervention when social media abuse spills over to real life was highlighted. The panellists urged users not to trust everything they see on social media and to use social media constructively as a fact-checking medium.