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Net Gains (May 19, 98) |
We've all read reams about the nuclear tests conducted last week,
and the repercussions in terms of accusations, threats, and implementations
of some of those threats. So don't worry, Net Gains won't go into
all of that. But this past week is a perfect example of why the
Net is the numero uno medium of communication, how it can be used
to arouse sentiments, and garner support for a cause.
News sites very often use a bulletin board or an online poll to
get reader reactions, feedback and opinions - these are elements
that give a site the "interactive" element that the
Internet boasts of.
Last week, CNN and Time conducted online polls about our nuclear
tests. And NRIs who got wind of the polls (with great Internet
connections, they can afford to read the news off the Net), spread
the word via emails urging other Indians to "rise to defend
our country in cyberspace" and participate in the poll. A
click of a mouse is all it takes to forward a message to everyone
in your email address book, and that's precisely what happened.
From one to fifty, from most of those fifty recipients to another
fifteen, twenty, fifty… whatever, the message had a cascading
effect. Some even added their two bits to the emails to stir nationalism
as they forwarded the messages. It's another matter that quite
a few of these same people have chosen to give up their Indian
citizenship in return for a green card, while many of the remaining
are struggling to get that green card too.
Tired of continually deleting the same mail forwarded by so many
concerned netizens, I did visit the Time online poll (http://cgi.pathfinder.com/time/daily/poll/980512.html).
And to see the results, I had to vote. The results page was interesting
to say the least. The opinion of the online audience was sought
on who the US should support, with three options : India, China,
and the third solution of promoting a stand-off between the two
countries. At the end of last week, China was a wee bit ahead
with 49.05% (106349 votes), while India lagged with 46.37% (100545
responses). The results page however, also made a note of how
attempts at cyber booth capturing had occurred. Programs (called
robot voters) had been written to automatically continuously vote
in favour of a certain country. One robot, for instance, came
through a server registered to the Kodak company, placing tens
of thousands of votes in favor of China. There were many more
attacks from servers registered to big companies and universities
in the US, which were tracked down and the distortion effects
undone. All this for an informal poll, which has no implications
on the reactions of the powers that be. Reading between the lines,
it all boiled down to a matter of ijjat ka savaal…
While those polls did not have that much of an impact on the day
to day functioning of our country, another email campaign may
have a positive effect. This email campaign, called NRI 100, is
targeted at NRIs, and was mentioned by Net Gains reader Subramaniam
A., currently on a short holiday here. The campaign suggests a
simple way for NRIs to counter the effects of sanctions that have
been slapped on India. The email explains how this move will slow
down the Indian economy - a lot of which has been highlighted
after the recent Asian financial crisis. To reduce the effect
of the move against India, the email recommends that NRIs around
the world start sending 100 $ (or 10% extra) in addition to the
normal monthly remuneration to their families in India, with instructions
to spend at least 60% of that extra money, and save, invest, or
donate to charities, the remaining 40%, with a sound explanation
backing it. This action by a 100 million NRIs would lead to monthly
forex inflows of about 100 million US dollars - and that's a lot
of money, which would lessen the impact on our economy. Very noble
intentions… and this message has started doing the rounds.
Now it remains to be seen how our NRIs react when a campaign requires
them not to voice their opinions on a webpage, but to loosen their
purse strings.
I'll sign off this week, exactly the same way all those emails
did - "Jai Hind !"