In the last four years, many essays by this columnist gave you a heads up on Twitter. So, I am a believer and hope this column isn’t misconstrued as a thumbs down for the mighty social media platform. But high time this is said - let’s get a discourse beyond 140 characters.It’s amusing here to read @arvindkejriwal demand from @thekiranbedi Tuesday that she unblocks him.
For dummies, the former chief minister and Aam Admi Party (Aap) supremo is demanding that his Bhartiya Janata Party opponent allows him the pleasure of receiving Ms Bedi’s tweets on his Twitter timeline. This clearly is the first time a high-profile rival has demanded the right to follow (RTF) from his or her opposite number. What could be next!
Imagine Nadal blocking Federer and the Swiss tennis champion going public in the manner Mr Kejriwal has! Or the corporate handle of Jet Airways demanding that it has the right to follow Indigo - and Rahul Bhatia reprimanding Naresh Goyal with his right to block (RTB)!
For some, ‘follow’ and ‘block’ are weighty matters of state - and RTF, at least in Mr Kejriwal’s Constitutional scheme, a more fundamental right than RTB! Today, more and more workplace conversations centre around what a political or business formation or brand tweeted, to how many follows, and whether the message trended!
Recently, the text of resignation of a journalist in The Hindu found its way into twitter space. It left me wondering about corporate propriety. How far are we from a day when resignations (and appointments!) pop up on our timelines not email!
That said, aren’t we a cozy community living in a digital dreamlandIJ How little do we worry if our tweet has relevance in the real world. “Humne to tweet kar diya - I simply tweeted it,” we say in a state of cathartic nirvana, thinking we’ve changed the world.
We’re oblivious to the tyranny of 140 characters where a tweet more often than not drops off the recipient’s timeline within a few seconds. Plus, it can appear distorted and out of context - and replete with promotional hashtags it’s often indexed in an unrelated way, causing potential miscommunication. And don’t forget, this “harmless” tweet is cached for ever!
The coming Budget is India’s opportunity to create a new economic vision. The Budget is too complex a document to be broken into chunks of 140 characters. Rather than make blurbs and boxes of tweets, the mainstream media would do us a great service if it asserted the long form. Trivia, imho, should remain the preserve of Twitter.
Tail Piece: Guess when Ms Bedi blocked Mr KejriwalIJ Please reply on #DailyPioneer
(The columnist is Group Head of Corporate Communication at RIl and serves on the board of a major television network. Views personal. Twitter: @therohitbansal).