Hazare agitation in Bangalore: How the campaign was caught in ‘Net’

Considering that over 70% of the people visiting Freedom Park are youngsters, the use of social networking sites has been an important factor in pushing this movement forward. From sticker campaigns to information on events and updates and inviting people to Freedom Park and gathering support for Anna Hazare, social networking sites have been an important tool in sending the message across.

Misab Rahman, who lives in the UAE, learnt about the protests in Bangalore through posts on Facebook. “My friends put up posts, pictures, and comments on Facebook. Everybody seemed to be talking about it. I came down on a short vacation to check it out,” he said.

He too tried to garner support for Anna through Facebook. “I tried to push Anna’s message by posting messages like ‘We are the kings and politicians should treat us with respect because they are our representatives’.”

Ramya Hanumanthaiah believes social networking sites have been extremely helpful in getting the people together and creating awareness about the Jan Lokpal Bill.

“We started a group on Facebook and spread the message that we are supporting Anna Hazare and we’ll be joining the protests at Freedom Park. We even managed to convince people to come to Freedom Park to show their support for Anna Hazare.” 

Vipul Agarwal says he has never seen such sustained activity on Facebook before. “Even when it comes to cricket matches, it is for one day. There are motivational messages, invitations, and discussions on the sites. Considering that most people have internet on their phones, we get constant updates on what is happening, including tweets by celebrities on twitter.” 

Social networking sites are an excellent medium to take this movement forward.

The sticker campaign and the human chain are two very recent examples of how the organisers used social networking sites to take the movement forward. Shanthala Damle, an organiser of the ongoing sticker campaign, said, “We needed volunteers to go to distribute stickers. Once we sent out messages through phone, people began registering online.”

Raghavendra of Saaku Corruption says the advantage with social networking sites is that information can be shared quickly. “The very essence of social networking is the network that it has created. It gets the message across faster and with smart phones, it is faster. It makes things simple for us too, because we can organise events and constantly update people on what is happening.”