Bhubaneswar: Fumbling for his phone, a sleepy Dusmant Behera is irked by the incessant notifications that have been buzzing his mobile suddenly. With one eye open, Dusmant checks his phone and much to his amusement finds himself added to one of the political Watsapp group created by his maternal uncle.
25-year old Dusmant is not the only youth who finds overburdened after getting put into yet another social media group by his relatives. As the elections are closing in more youngsters in the state are being added to these groups irrespective of their political inclinations.
“This is the third group I’m being added to in past three weeks. I have zero interest in politics yet my family members keep putting me into these groups. It gets even worse when some family members send the same message personally and then again in the group,” Dusmant complains.
According to reports by WhatsApp, India has about 300 million smart phones and more than 200 million of them have the messaging application installed in them. Out of these about 8 lakh users are from Odisha of which 73% users are between 18-35 age group.
Once a simple platform for exchanging messages, WhatsApp has now turned into powerful medium for imposing party ideologies on others. Be it ridiculing opposition parties, sending memes or the perennial spreading hatred towards Pakistan these groups have started to play a vital role during elections.
“There is a special designated team for this. We call it as our WhatsApp army. For many, this is their only source of information and like it or not, a lot of them truly believe what is being sent,” says a political consultant here who preferred anonymity due to nature of his work.
To give a vague idea of the popularity of WhatsApp groups in India, sample this: During the crucial state elections in Uttar Pradesh state in 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP alone created more than 6,600 WhatsApp groups to spread the party’s message.
However, this raises a question as to why do youngsters believe these news or better, why not simply choose to ignore? “Trust,” explains psychologist Barsha Priyambada here. When it comes to news on such media, even pragmatic people believe messages forwarded by friends and relative because the mindset is, “how can people close to us be so wrong,” she adds.
Explaining his predicament, Nigam Patra who is a student here at Kalinga University says, “I can’t completely ignore these messages. You meet your uncle or whoever is a member in family function and they will ask a detailed opinion over what they send in the group 5 years ago.”
Incepting with just good morning messages these groups slowly delve into circulating fake news, spirited chauvinism and mindless bigotism. In a recent report by a technical organisation, WhatsApp activities recorded 44% increase in end to end and single to all message data post Pulwama attack.
“Youths are the future of our nation. If not for them, I don’t know who else should be interested in the politics and welfare for our country. Not only they should get into these groups but should actively participate in it,” argues Sampad Mohanty who runs a 200-member WhatsApp group named ‘Saffron Army.’