I’ve been on Twitter for quite some time now and have figured out what it takes to be a hit (Look Who’s Chasing...The Twitter Gods, Apr 16). One, you need to start with satire; which is why @rameshsrivats or @fakingnews have the maximum following. You can get away with choicest abuse in the name of satire; boundary, language, caste, and sex are no bar. Next, you need to be anti-Congress, pro-rss/bjp, take digs at the Gandhi-Nehru family on the slightest pretext and pour venom on Rahul to underline your patriotic credentials. Third, you have to be against the media, especially electronic. Guys like @kiranks, @mediacrooks or @wordofthefreepress make a living on Twitter by reviling Sagarika, Rajdeep, Arnab, Barkha, Suhel Seth et al, jumping at even the odd grammatical error in their tweets. Lastly, a you-scratch-my-back-I-scratch-yours policy ups your follower count like nothing else. Get anyone you know and the world knows to RT any of your tweets and lo and behold the entire list of followers of genuine celebs gets transferred to you. In short, the Indian Twitterati, like the rest of the country, has a long way to go before they become responsible citizens of a mature democracy. Rage and rant are necessary but not sufficient elements in discourse. Genuine concern, a positive frame of mind and feedback will do a world of good to our Twitter rebels-without-a-cause.
Chetan T.A., Bangalore
Twitter has certainly provided a platform for expression—and a fair variety of it too, by assorted people, in good, bad, appreciative or even abusive language. Its biggest advantage is its limited text restrictions, and hence the to-the-pointness.
Pramod Srivastava, New Delhi
People have the tendency to reject something they do not use or do not know how to use. I know someone who has generated funds just by tweeting for a rural school near Bhopal and has opened a ‘clothes bank’ for rural women. Even `28 was trending big at one point.
Lata, Madrid
Twitter gets your message across so effectively that you don’t have to be a grammar freak. Your 140-character composition, however weird, gets attention here. No wonder tweeting has become a way of life for many of our celebs.
K. Chidanand Kumar, Bangalore
Britney Spears has more followers than Obama. Chomsky says Twitter is killing our cognition power. Long live the Twitter generation.
Abhishek Sharma, on e-mail
Anything that promotes narcissism and herd mentality has got to be pathetic.
Vanderluzt, New Delhi
For me, Twitter stands for Truant Ways of Individuals to Torment Efficient Ranks.
Rajneesh Batra, New Delhi
So, do these people qualify for the Padmashri?
Dinesh Kumar, Chandigarh
What is it in the Twitter world, twit for twat or twat for twit?
Harsh Rai Puri, Bhopal
Twitter-sponsored article?
Hiren Daftari, on e-mail
