Use or abuse: How far will social media activism go?
On 26 February 2012, an unarmed African American teenager Trayvon Martin was shot in the chest by George Zimmerman. Minutes before the shooting Zimmerman called 911 and allegedly said – as has been proved by the release of dispatch tapes – that Trayvon “looked suspicious.” He claimed self defense and no charges were filed, however when police arrived on the scene all they found with Trayvon was a can of iced tea and a bag of candy. This incident did not explode on mainstream American media for a while. But the uproar was loud and clear on social media platforms. It became big on Twitter, Facebook ...
Read Full Post
What is the worst thing about Pakistan’s media?
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) deserves a pat on the back for its bold move towards greater transparency in their online complaints section – they’ve given the public access to the complaint log. To be frank, a pat on the back for Pemra and a cold shiver down one’s spine is unfortunately the order of the day. Let us delve into this treasure trove of the Pakistani complainant’s mindset. First of all, the top 10 list of offenders: No Name Complaints 1 Samaa TV 450 2 Geo News 147 3 Geo Ent 95 4 Express News 32 5 AAG / Geo Aur 26 6 ARY Digital 21 7 HUM TV 13 8 Dawn News 11 9 Dunya TV News 11 10 AAJ News 8 That is a total of over 800 complaints; again, an ...
Read Full Post
When Twitter gets it wrong
I spend an average of 14 hours online every day. During this time, I monitor stories on different news sites, wires stories, Twitter and various other sources. Being in the news business, you can gauge where the news is wrong and where factual inaccuracies are coming from, which (newsflash) happens often. From politicians to opinion makers to senior journalists, factual errors and incorrect news is nothing new but it isn’t only media folk who are to blame. The online community itself is also part of this phenomenon. While ordinary citizens are never short of spreading rumors or incorrect news online ...
Read Full Post
Who trashed my comment?
Earlier this week we asked our readers what they wanted to know about policy, coverage and reporting at The Express Tribune. A lot of you wanted to know why certain reader comments never make it online. On our Facebook page Rabia Kashan wrote: “U publish comments which only support ur argument or not condradictory with themn thats very much TRUE” Ahsan Ullah wrote: “I never saw my comments on any post. Why is that?” Nur Momand asked: “The policy of comments moderation is murky. Sometimes very harsh comments get published but many a time even relatively milder critique gets censored. Is it because of the the person ...
Read Full Post
My quest to find Mr Right online
For the last couple of years my mother has been asking me the same questions: “Have you met someone?” “When will you start looking?” “Are you getting older each day or younger? (Umer ja rahe hai k aa rahe hai?)” The worst is when she tells me that if I don’t find someone for myself, she will do it for me. An image of Mr Kohli from Bride and Prejudice pops into my head after this declaration (shudder). You might think that I am talking about the biggest issue in Pakistan. But no, this is not about Memogate or about Zardari. This issue is ...
Read Full Post
Deconstructing the PTI troll
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is the talk of the town. Naysayers have several objections – some which are fair, some not quite. One particular complaint, however, is a unique piece of criticism leveled against the party: that of the PTI troll, someone we all know and despise. When criticising the PTI on public forums, especially Twitter, a commenter is often subjected to harsh language and offensive speech by ‘supporters’ of the party. Instead of presenting arguments against criticism, these trolls subject the critic to intense cyber abuse. While I agree that this behaviour is not in the party’s interests, criticising the ...
Read Full PostDr Aamir Liaquat’s show continues…on Twitter
After being hounded by a viral video controversy, it seems our esteemed Dr Aamir Liaquat has decided to take the fight against his good name online, via Twitter. Needless to say, for some of us, this has been an eye-opening, and somewhat refreshing experience compared to the Doctor’s rather lengthy TV series. Welcome to a show far removed from TV, as the brevity of Twitter updates forced the good Doctor to skip his usual elegant mannerisms. No more fluff, Dr Aamir Liaquat played hardball online, proving that he really knows how to segment and cater to different audiences (and varying levels ...
Read Full Post
Do Facebook friendships mean anything at all?
OK, let’s accept it. We are all addicted to social networking sites, especially Facebook, in one way or another. Social networking has not only altered the way we live, it has also changed our relationships and interactions with each other. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Foursquare, Yahoo 360 and many other social networking sites are the projectors of our self image and define our relationships. The pages we ‘like’, the groups we join, our activities and interests, the thoughts we choose to share on Facebook – all work to make us a part of a subculture that is still in its infancy, ...
Read Full PostAre narcissists bringing social media down?
A great deal is expected from social media here in Pakistan. We are the younger generation’s hope and the older one’s handing-over brigade. We are supposed to act as a check and balance for not only political corruption, but for mainstream media which most of us regard as an out-of-control dinosaur. We are called saviors but I think we may need a little bit of saving from our own selves. This weekend was a busy one for the social media savvy here in Karachi. On Friday, there was Google MapUp held at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) which proved to be ...
Read Full Post
I love you, but you can’t have my password
I recently read a blog post about sharing personal e-mail accounts with your partners or spouse. The blog said about 33 per cent of women and 30 per cent of men share their online information with their partners. It also said that among unmarried couples, 10 per cent of the time, this led to a discovery of their partner’s infidelity. The figure was lower for married couples – about three per cent. The identity theft expert who gave these stats, Robert Siciliano, went on to warn that this figure was among those who had admitted to account sharing and discovering the infidelity ...
Read Full Post
