Now that we are almost THERE...

"Main Narendra Damodardas Modi, eashwar ki shapath leta hu...."

( I, Narendra Damodardas Modi, do swear in the name of God...)

This has been ringing in my head for a couple of weeks now. I say it off and on, with a blank mind, even though there's nothing to it, until I stop to realize what I was speaking.

For the last year or so, I have been on twitter, reading, sharing, fighting, blocking, getting blocked, all to put my two bits to support the BJP and Modi. The elections are over and results due in a few hours. All exit polls have given clear signs of a convincing victory for the NDA, lead by the BJP and headed by Modi. There are apprehensions over tampering of EVMs and not without reason, but in our hearts we all know "Modi Aanewala hai" (Modi is coming)!

The feeling closest to what I have now is probably one that I had in anticipation of my engineering final year results. I knew I had done well, I knew I will get good marks, I was hoping I'll get a distinction, there were apprehensions about something going unexpectedly wrong, but there was faith that I'm on course and then there was a life stretching beyond, in sight. A life which would be different, the world would change for me, I would change for the world, there'll be freedom, end of dependence on my parents, the joy of earning and being able to give something back to my loved ones and the pride of being on my own.

The hours that lead up to the 2014 LS election results have a similar promise. A nation in distress sees hope, excitement is abound, there is a promise of a resurgent India. We have fought hard and we know we have done well. There is a dream that India would be, where there'll be growth, economic, social and intellectual, where there'll be pride of being recognized in the world, where there'll be the joy of seeing Indian nationals excel in various disciplines and it all looks within reach. From a hopeless existence a couple of years back, in times marred by corruption, terrorism, extremism, failure of diplomacy, concerns over security, to the courage to dream again as a nation is no mean achievement in 6 months of election campaigning!

As I write this, I'm wondering how Modi supporters would be feeling right now. Many have already complained of insomnia-attacks, many of us from across the world have joined a group "We the MODIfiers" on WhatsApp to find an excuse for staying up all night. The news channels have announced that they'd start off at 6 am tomorrow morning and I'm sure quite a few of us will be seeing their first sunrise in a long long time. Some are complaining of goosebumps, at every mention of the words "Modi" and "PM" together. 

I remember the final scene in the movie "Pursuit of HappYness", that was one scene where my logical mind and the emotional heart were engaged in a pin-down contest. I have still not forgiven Will Smith for making me look like a sissy in front of my friends. It was a marvellous performance! If cameras were to be fitted in homes of all Modi supports, at the time of the formal announcement of results, I expect India to discover millions of Will Smith's in that singular moment of exuberance.

The apprehension around EVM rigging loom large in many minds, but come what may, we will have our day of victory today (its 1:05 a.m now). Our victory stands in the hope of new beginnings, it stands in knowing, that results notwithstanding, that we are a community of people with choices alike and hopes rekindled. The victory is in being proud of our history, our legacy, our past and in being vocal about it. We are free from the clutches of self-professed intellectuals who have for centuries now, incessantly attacked and subdued the pride in our being. Our goals are clear, we know what we want and we believe we can get it. We have belief in ourselves and faith that we will not be alone. We have learnt to fight and we have victory in sight. The impediments and divisions assiduously created through decades of indoctrination are fast evaporating in the fire of rekindled nationalism. A sulking mind will see chinks but the fact is that many barriers have been breached and we have come together as one nation.

A victory of mammoth proportions has already been achieved, the stamp of formality remains. We shall relish this day and we will be there to fight another!

As moments of anticipation trickle through, I'll reflect on this journey, the struggles, the scares, the exhilaration, the fun, the friendships... all of it. It all brought us to this day, it culminates here. I'll see the night through, thinking of it all, I'll see it through weaving dreams. I have learnt to hope and hope I will, Now that we are almost THERE....

Exploring the "Art of Trolling" and AAP’s Way of Doing It

Trolling is as much an art as any other! A discipline goes through several phases of evolution before it is established. It broadly follows the sequence of Need, Conception, Growth with Intuition, Recognition and then Institutionalization.

An idea kicks off with the need to act to achieve certain ends. Habitual trolls apart, (who might do it just for kicks) trolling is increasingly being used in the political discourse on Social Media as a method of “psychological warfare”. In a democratic set-up where perceptions pave the way to citadels of power, a mechanism to influence perceptions is always in need.

Motivated trolling could be a planned or a sub-consciously conceived, aggressive mechanism of influencing opinions and perceptions on SM. The defined or felt objective of a motivated troll could be to frustrate opponents so they recede to silence or to shame them to submission so that they rethink their position.

Any established art that is now scientifically studied was at one time an abstract. It grew through the intuitive genius of people whom history now recognizes as patriarchs. The works of the patriarchs popularize the art to the point where interest is established in taking the art forward. This is the point where the art is recognized. It then grows through systematic studies, experimentation and codification of norms / best practices.

Trolling might never be recognized officially, given the Machiavellian nature of the art but intuitive additions in the form of group action, organization, developing tactics and arguments will likely be promoted formally or informally. Research at small levels might be undertaken given that trolling is a mechanism of psychological warfare and thus psychology in action.

The impetus to delve into this topic came to me after interaction with some Aam Admi Party affiliated trolls. AAP’s focus on effective use of various media is but obvious. It assumes the greatest importance for them because they have no history of governance to show, no vision to talk of and work on and nothing else that can establish before the voters that they can deliver. Their primary objective thus, is to build the perception among masses that:

·        The country is under siege

·        People are oppressed

·        AAP leaders are ones from among the oppressed

·        AAP is the only savior

AAP trolls seem to work in a loose organization as of now and work assiduously to drive through the above points. Reports are rife that a dedicated IT team, financed by the Jindals, handles the online propaganda. This dedicated team forms the core of organized AAP trolls. Observations suggest that they track news and identify articles which can be used to attack their opponents, produce photoshopped images for publicity / propaganda and “make convenient interpretations” of news which are all then circulated and over time help in inviting people to their viewpoint and indoctrinating the followers to harden their support. The hardened supporters then become conduits for further circulation of viewpoints and add muscle to online perception management through attack on and ridicule of opposing viewpoints, wanton abuse of individual opponents, attack-in-packs on popular individuals whom they identify as opponents.

A loose organization is palpable with the increasing uniformity of their argument and their attitude when in argument. The uniformity is such that if someone engages with one AAP supporter, (s)he would be able to predict the course and content of arguments the next time (s)he engages with any other AAP supporter. Suggestions of use of bots and multiple accounts apart, the similarities between real individuals supporting AAP are stark.

A recent example is the uniform use of “B**stards” for BJP supporters on SM. It’s a thoughtfully conceived term in response to the SM colloquial of AAPTard (Retard supporting AAP). The term suggests abuse, as at-a-glance, it looks like “Bastard”.  The response from AAP supporters to anyone who takes offence is also standard. The response invariably is “A filthy mind looks at everything in bad light, it means BJPstards…” or something to this effect. It is intended to double the attack on the opponent by first abusing, then shaming in rebuttal. This however lays a couple of facts straight:

•      The term is “meant to suggest” bastard! This, because it is always used with screens on the “JP”, none of them uses “BJPstard” as is. Invariably it is used as “B**stard”. It is this uniformity which suggests the possibility of an organization.
•      It is evident that the term is “designed” for a certain effect and thought must’ve gone into it. The idea was then disseminated among all supporters. One cannot imagine all AAP supporters possessing the same level of design-intelligence. One cannot imagine all AAP supporters possessing “this” level of semantic-design-intelligence. There must be a think tank behind this. This brings us back to the reports of Jindal-financed dedicated IT team.

All this only indicates that efforts to organize and institutionalize trolling are already underway in some measure.

If a psychological online war has to be fought, some thought must be put in mitigating / countering organized trolling. Individual, knee-jerk, impromptu reactions might not suffice. Our objective should be to keep the online space and exchanges therein, fair and amicable overall.

The working of trolls can be studied with the lens of psychology and ways to mitigate or neutralize organized trolls can be identified. I would be interested to give my two bits on the “whats and hows” of this issue in some later post, but for now, I’d leave with this simple message:

“Wars are won before the battles are actually fought…”