All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
After experiencing the interesting and rather disconcerting developments on the Bhutanese Twittersphere recently I was contemplating a blogpost but lacked the focus and time. Knowing that I will be uprooting in 2 days from NY, I've been feeling like an ADHD person on crack (just saying, I don't know what it feels like to be on crack ;) but ADHD deprived of sleep? yes!)
However, another blogger/writer Jurmi Chhowing (twitter handle @Telling Talisman) who had, I presume, already experienced or seen these developments as early as 2011 wrote articulately about it (Putting a gag on gossip.) I think that while the Bhutanese media landscape has seen many newspapers and forums, people should branch out and read citizen media perspectives like his that reflect online societal behaviour of the Bhutanese and perhaps learn something about online social mores. There is a difference between being outspoken and being racist/derogatory/lewd/spreading fear and hatred.
Well, I could/should say, most of the attacks became personal (directed mostly towards me) after I took it upon myself to speak out against some of the very personal attacks against mostly one person, the Prime Minister. There is a difference between criticism and making very personal attacks. I think this is something that many who have recently taken to tweeting/posting on very public forums like twitter, have not been able to distinguish. (One of the charges against me was my comment following the Wangdidzong fire. The comment I made might have been inflammatory as it was seen questioning the wealth of the Dratshang, but I don't see how questioning one institution against another is any different. If people have questions for the government, can I not question the Dratsang?)
Else, they may have thought that under a pseudonym or a guise they could treat it like Bhutantimes.com, a forum in which Bhutanese took to ranting/airing their grievances against anybody. (The forum shut down last year) More often than not, they became vicious and personal in their posts. But the information provided there, although more gossip and rumours than fact, was still informative in the sense that it reflected how people were thinking or capable of thinking. It is essential to have forums where people use words to channel their frustrations. Nevertheless, it is also important as individuals who are on these forums to be responsible and accountable for what they say and not use the unbridled freedom to make false allegations and crucify an individual (whether the PM, the Opposition Leader, or any other person they may not like)
In forums such as Bhutantimes.com, people were all under false identities so anyone who logged into it knew that a lot of what was said was hearsay/opinions/rumours that had to be corroborated. People crossed the line all the time so nobody really relied on that forum for the absolute truth. Yet, a lot of the information posted there "could have" influenced the elections of 2008 when a certain person with the avatar "commonman" wrote/posted maniacally against one of the contending candidates in that election. The candidate lost by huge margins and common man was never heard from again. I don't think anybody knows who he was or what happened to him.
As a citizen journalist who has been active on social media forums (on twitter since 2010 and blogging since 2009 solely to stay abreast of the issues and voice my views on Bhutan and issues of social justice) I can say that it was different on the Bhutanese Twitter sphere. It was very civil with most people tweeting under their own names, but that was until about a month ago (or even a few weeks ago).
Signs of hatred, bigotry, male chauvinism, and racism were pretty evident on the Bhutantimes.com forum and because people could write anonymously, the venting took place full swing. Like I said until about a few weeks ago, this was non-existent on the Bhutanese twitter sphere then suddenly a host of anonymous users cropped up and comments/posts to malign, shame and tarnish others all under anonymity crept into that forum too.
Other Bhutanese on twitter probably won't see it the way I do because they may not be as outspoken or simply not care. When I called out one who crossed the line with a lewd joke on the PM's name with his private parts, I tried to ask people to be civil only to be viciously attacked myself by a host of tweeters with fake ID's. To them, it is either you see it our way, or no way. Although the person who made that lewd tweet and I had a civilized interaction during, which I presume he/she got my point on why we didn't have to descend that low to air ones political grievances, others still didn't seem to get the point. One even went on to refer to the PM (whom he clearly loathed) as "Lyonchen Jigmi Yoser Rai." For him, he thought he was derogating the PM with the mere attachment of the Lhotsham (Southern Bhutanese) name "Rai", but he was also derogating an ethnic group too. This was pretty revelatory of segregation at work in Bhutanese society; of how low one can stoop to make a point.
It is pretty obvious from my interaction with them on Twitter and from a comment left on my blogpost under "My Village Aunt", that if you are a Bhutanese living outside of Bhutan (like myself, or maybe just me, because of my outspokenness) we/I have no right to comment, write or speak about anything in Bhutan. Criticism is something only "they" can make. This is because you or I who, even though we are Bhutanese, by virtue of living outside Bhutan, don't know anything. If we elect these people into office I won't be surprised to see a legislation which might make this a law, so talk about people living in glass houses throwing stones at others - or as one Tweeter said; "Those of you who do not like people who fart, should not fart either." Right back @ you MPTsheringPenjo ;)
No matter who it is (even if it is one of these people themselves being subjected to it) I would stand up for them. I also know one has to pay a price - to get sucked into time consuming debates on what constitutes crossing lines (even on free forums like social media) and taking the brunt for it. But I am no stranger to being ridiculed. I was threatened with imprisonment once in public at a social gathering and I have seen how people around you will react once you have been ostracized by an influential figure. So it was nothing strange to see that on Twitter either. People choosing to embrace silence or joining in with the crowd that appeared to think alike and swing insults. Some played safe, one tweeter even apologized where there was no real need to."Don't mean to hurt anybody," he said, "As far as I know PM does it himself," he said, responding to allegations that PM's speeches were written by somebody else.
Without getting into details of these arguments on whether the PM is right or wrong, good or bad; whether tweeting under false names or fake ID's is right or wrong, good or bad; I don't think personal attacks, racist, bigoted and derogatory remarks should be tolerated. My readers, or people who know me, can judge that I have critiqued the PM on his policies and even his government on issues I have not agreed with and praised him where i felt he deserved it. The elections are around the corner, and Bhutanese who play dirty, partisan politics are doing nothing but a great dis-service to their fellow Bhutanese and their country. The Opposition Leader has single-handedly, tweeting under his own name and ID, managed to achieve much. I would think that others who don't approve of this government or the PM, don't have to look anywhere else for a role model for what they want to achieve. In fact I think the Opposition leader alone was doing a good enough job of debating the issues without having these fake ID's latch onto him and erode his credibility in the process.
To show you how unsettling these developments became one Bhutanese tweeter even said: "I was excited when I first joined the twitter world...now, I'm beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable."
I am all for free speech and I have no problem with anonymity. But even in a world of unbridled freedom where we can criticize our way to glory, there is no room for racism/bigotry/sexism and lewdness.
After experiencing the interesting and rather disconcerting developments on the Bhutanese Twittersphere recently I was contemplating a blogpost but lacked the focus and time. Knowing that I will be uprooting in 2 days from NY, I've been feeling like an ADHD person on crack (just saying, I don't know what it feels like to be on crack ;) but ADHD deprived of sleep? yes!)
However, another blogger/writer Jurmi Chhowing (twitter handle @Telling Talisman) who had, I presume, already experienced or seen these developments as early as 2011 wrote articulately about it (Putting a gag on gossip.) I think that while the Bhutanese media landscape has seen many newspapers and forums, people should branch out and read citizen media perspectives like his that reflect online societal behaviour of the Bhutanese and perhaps learn something about online social mores. There is a difference between being outspoken and being racist/derogatory/lewd/spreading fear and hatred.
Well, I could/should say, most of the attacks became personal (directed mostly towards me) after I took it upon myself to speak out against some of the very personal attacks against mostly one person, the Prime Minister. There is a difference between criticism and making very personal attacks. I think this is something that many who have recently taken to tweeting/posting on very public forums like twitter, have not been able to distinguish. (One of the charges against me was my comment following the Wangdidzong fire. The comment I made might have been inflammatory as it was seen questioning the wealth of the Dratshang, but I don't see how questioning one institution against another is any different. If people have questions for the government, can I not question the Dratsang?)
Else, they may have thought that under a pseudonym or a guise they could treat it like Bhutantimes.com, a forum in which Bhutanese took to ranting/airing their grievances against anybody. (The forum shut down last year) More often than not, they became vicious and personal in their posts. But the information provided there, although more gossip and rumours than fact, was still informative in the sense that it reflected how people were thinking or capable of thinking. It is essential to have forums where people use words to channel their frustrations. Nevertheless, it is also important as individuals who are on these forums to be responsible and accountable for what they say and not use the unbridled freedom to make false allegations and crucify an individual (whether the PM, the Opposition Leader, or any other person they may not like)
In forums such as Bhutantimes.com, people were all under false identities so anyone who logged into it knew that a lot of what was said was hearsay/opinions/rumours that had to be corroborated. People crossed the line all the time so nobody really relied on that forum for the absolute truth. Yet, a lot of the information posted there "could have" influenced the elections of 2008 when a certain person with the avatar "commonman" wrote/posted maniacally against one of the contending candidates in that election. The candidate lost by huge margins and common man was never heard from again. I don't think anybody knows who he was or what happened to him.
As a citizen journalist who has been active on social media forums (on twitter since 2010 and blogging since 2009 solely to stay abreast of the issues and voice my views on Bhutan and issues of social justice) I can say that it was different on the Bhutanese Twitter sphere. It was very civil with most people tweeting under their own names, but that was until about a month ago (or even a few weeks ago).
Signs of hatred, bigotry, male chauvinism, and racism were pretty evident on the Bhutantimes.com forum and because people could write anonymously, the venting took place full swing. Like I said until about a few weeks ago, this was non-existent on the Bhutanese twitter sphere then suddenly a host of anonymous users cropped up and comments/posts to malign, shame and tarnish others all under anonymity crept into that forum too.
Other Bhutanese on twitter probably won't see it the way I do because they may not be as outspoken or simply not care. When I called out one who crossed the line with a lewd joke on the PM's name with his private parts, I tried to ask people to be civil only to be viciously attacked myself by a host of tweeters with fake ID's. To them, it is either you see it our way, or no way. Although the person who made that lewd tweet and I had a civilized interaction during, which I presume he/she got my point on why we didn't have to descend that low to air ones political grievances, others still didn't seem to get the point. One even went on to refer to the PM (whom he clearly loathed) as "Lyonchen Jigmi Yoser Rai." For him, he thought he was derogating the PM with the mere attachment of the Lhotsham (Southern Bhutanese) name "Rai", but he was also derogating an ethnic group too. This was pretty revelatory of segregation at work in Bhutanese society; of how low one can stoop to make a point.
It is pretty obvious from my interaction with them on Twitter and from a comment left on my blogpost under "My Village Aunt", that if you are a Bhutanese living outside of Bhutan (like myself, or maybe just me, because of my outspokenness) we/I have no right to comment, write or speak about anything in Bhutan. Criticism is something only "they" can make. This is because you or I who, even though we are Bhutanese, by virtue of living outside Bhutan, don't know anything. If we elect these people into office I won't be surprised to see a legislation which might make this a law, so talk about people living in glass houses throwing stones at others - or as one Tweeter said; "Those of you who do not like people who fart, should not fart either." Right back @ you MPTsheringPenjo ;)
No matter who it is (even if it is one of these people themselves being subjected to it) I would stand up for them. I also know one has to pay a price - to get sucked into time consuming debates on what constitutes crossing lines (even on free forums like social media) and taking the brunt for it. But I am no stranger to being ridiculed. I was threatened with imprisonment once in public at a social gathering and I have seen how people around you will react once you have been ostracized by an influential figure. So it was nothing strange to see that on Twitter either. People choosing to embrace silence or joining in with the crowd that appeared to think alike and swing insults. Some played safe, one tweeter even apologized where there was no real need to."Don't mean to hurt anybody," he said, "As far as I know PM does it himself," he said, responding to allegations that PM's speeches were written by somebody else.
Without getting into details of these arguments on whether the PM is right or wrong, good or bad; whether tweeting under false names or fake ID's is right or wrong, good or bad; I don't think personal attacks, racist, bigoted and derogatory remarks should be tolerated. My readers, or people who know me, can judge that I have critiqued the PM on his policies and even his government on issues I have not agreed with and praised him where i felt he deserved it. The elections are around the corner, and Bhutanese who play dirty, partisan politics are doing nothing but a great dis-service to their fellow Bhutanese and their country. The Opposition Leader has single-handedly, tweeting under his own name and ID, managed to achieve much. I would think that others who don't approve of this government or the PM, don't have to look anywhere else for a role model for what they want to achieve. In fact I think the Opposition leader alone was doing a good enough job of debating the issues without having these fake ID's latch onto him and erode his credibility in the process.
To show you how unsettling these developments became one Bhutanese tweeter even said: "I was excited when I first joined the twitter world...now, I'm beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable."
I am all for free speech and I have no problem with anonymity. But even in a world of unbridled freedom where we can criticize our way to glory, there is no room for racism/bigotry/sexism and lewdness.
3 comments:
That is why, my dear aunty, I am neither on Tweeter nor on Facebook. I don't have enough time to write of meaningful things instead of being drawn into mindless things.
Reading your post I am happy I have resisted.
I will say it again: I was excited when I first joined the twitter world...now, I'm beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable.
In fact, the reason I left one of the facebook groups is the constant personal attacks & character assassination...mudslinging etc.
I think people need to be educated on how to voice their opinion in a civil manner and on constructive feedback.
Wai Dasho, how did I become your Aunty now? ;) I agree with you to a certain extent and I wish I could be like you.
@Aou Tshering, I agree about how uncomfortable one is made to feel and I hope that the Bhutanese twitter sphere will return to being what it was - interesting and fun. Thanks both for your comments ;)
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