You feed the algorithm, the algorithm feeds you

The Kolkata rape and the sexual assault at Badlapur has the Internet in a rage As we scroll past content on the tragedies bots feed on the crumb trail of Likes Comments Shares on Instagram X YouTube and Facebook And soon enough your feed is full of stories of similar sexual assaults and attacks Itrsquos a full circuit The rage read engagement wakes and feeds the Search Engine Optimisation SEO which pushes to our feed more things to rage about And yoursquore caught in an exhausting anger loop soon there are ads for exercise apps that teach somatic workoutshellipMastering SEO is an essential professional skill in the current economymdashevery business has a presence on social media and is fighting for the consumerrsquos ie your attention And anger powers the engine more than anything else because an emotion with negative valence density travels further and fasterManisha Pande and Mayura SaaviJay Van Bavel a professor of Social Studies in New York University analysed more than half a million tweetsmdashAn Ideological Asymmetry in the Diffusion of Moralised Content on Social Media Among Political Leadersmdashduring the Donald Trump vs Joe Biden election and found that moralemotional words in messages increased their dispersion on the internet by a factor of 20 per cent for each additional word Politicians community leaders organisers of social movements use morallycharged emotions to increase the exposure of their message and influence opinion via social networks The election was riding high on the emotional and moral values that each candidate tried to emphasise during the campaign trail The Arab Spring was said to be one of the biggest examples prodemocracy protests throughout the Arab world like Egypt Bahrain X was used to mobilise prodemocracy protests around the Arab worldmdashwith many governments implementing internet shutdowns that did little to stop the wave like we saw in Libya which in midFebruary 2011 saw a shutdown of government internet services by the late president Muammar GaddafiSo are we raging against the machine or for the machine Itrsquos a doubleedged sword Abhiraj Rajadhyaksha and Niyati Mavinkurve better known as Abhi and NiyumdashAbhiandNiyu are popular content creators who highlighted the Kolkata rape incident when most media houses concentrated on Independence day coverage ldquoAt the time of making the video we did not think about who else was talking about it or that we needed to get ahead of the curve We just did it because it felt like the right thing to dordquo says Rajadhyaksha Their channel has 66 million followers on YouTube and the first video on the issue is a merely 45seconds long discussing the incident and expressing their disgust over itAbhiraj Rajadhyaksha and Niyati MavinkurveTwo more videos came only five days ago that talks about the lack of inaction by the state government police and judiciary Mavinkurve says this was a conscious decision because ldquowe wanted to know more about the investigation We often go through opinion pieces in newspapers after such sensitive issues before making any content Opinions from stakeholders often trickle down over the next few weeks and make us more informedrdquoYouTube has 476 million users Indians engaging with the popular social video platform in JulyManisha Pande managing editor at NewsLaundry recently did a segment about misreporting in the Kolkata rape case specifically about the amount of semen found in the victim The journalist characterised by her tongueincheek humour points out what goes wrong at the source of such news reports ldquoWe fail to go beyond covering rape as mere crime stories focusing on sensationalism The semen detail for example was absolutely unacceptable element of reportage But the goal is the gorier the betterrdquo she saysIn a news industry that is highly reliant on views and likes for income sensationalisation will never go on the back burner admits Pande It was later revealed that the forensic report never seemed to have any information of the presence of semen spelt out in gramsBut there is silver lining to outrage she arguesldquoThe Delhi coaching Centre story where three students drowned in the flooded basement would not would have made it through one news cycle 24 hours had it not been for the traction generated by the videos and photos circulated on social mediardquo she says over the phone ldquoThis forced change in policy and safeguards demanded by the government of such coaching centres Like anything it depends on what we do with itrdquo With the Delhi High Court asking the centres to ensure functional gates clear basement access unobstructed corridors regular checks for water accumulation and proper electrical and fire safety measuresMayura Saavi a queer Ambedkarite who has been using social media extensively to mobilise petitions and engage in talks with those who align with her ideals of for social injustice for Dalits and LGBTQAi feels that while the pitfalls of SEO rage are undeniable the good outweighs the bad ldquoThe Hathras Case in 2020 left us feeling helpless trapped by the lockdown Yet it also connected us with likeminded individuals who shared similar outrage against the casteist and misogynistic system Through a WhatsApp group we formed a community of women and nonbinary individuals from diverse professions and across borders We discussed the case organised virtual panels and drafted petitions with the help of lawyers journalists and activists Circulating them widely on social media and tagging government officials gave us hope that together we can drive changerdquo She further says ldquoWe remain committed to social justice and will never be silencedrdquo In a 2021 a antiCitizen Amendment Act protest case study summarised that Indians are increasingly turning to online platforms making them a key venue for political debate and to spur civic activitiesIndependent organisations and studentled communities today galvanize online gather momentum and take to the streets in protestHowrsquos the rage today2037more amplification of posts on social media if words used were of moral or emotional natureAlso ReadFrom creators to users How artificial intelligence is shaping social media feeds