Daily Times

The nations that resist revolutionizing changes and do not attempt to synchronize with the world are forced to accept, adopt, and take up revolutions willy-nilly from the outside world. The glaring example is that of the internet and online revolution, fueled by the fury of the sprawling prevalence of cell phones and mobile technology and the consequent launch of multiple social media platforms around the world. Pakistanis never wanted to accept this, as most wanted to live with their traditional ways because of their non-synchronizing nature. The impact of global mobile technology forced us to let social media seep and gain ground into our public and private life. But now, when we have been forced to live with this technology and information revolution, we must benefit from it more extensively by using this life-changing virtual world for our nation in general and our youth in particular.

Even after witnessing the fruits of the Internet and mobile technology revolution-based social media, we are only boasting of the number of users in Pakistan. The matter is not how many users use it; the point is how people generally use this revolution. In Pakistan, no single segment or layer of the society can be credited with any significant level of use; it is almost a universal phenomenon ranging from young to old and from the less earning class to the elites. These users benefit from this revolution in one way or another, but the real benefits are still to be reaped. We Pakistanis have not been able to harness this vast resource to its full extent because of the lack of a comprehensive policy, training, and development of skills much needed in the 21st century.

No technology cannot be good or bad; its use can be so because it largely depends on how the technology is being used, whether it is being used for the welfare of humanity or just another tool in the hands of the profit-mongering people. Still, a significant section of society does not give importance to social media in terms of good and evil; they instead think in terms of freedom and control. A dominant segment believes it has lent freedom of expression and has converted every citizen into a citizen journalist. Almost everyone with a gadget and internet access can freely express himself and let the world know what he knows or is going through. Yet another equally significant portion of the Pakistani population thinks that social media is a tool invented to control or at least mould the opinion of the people in favour or against a person, a business, or any organization and that mostly it is the job of the powerful states that they can construct or reconstruct the opinion of the people with a tilt towards their benefit.

Almost everyone with a gadget and internet access can freely express himself.

Through whatever lens the social media is interpreted, it has benefitted both the parties: the capitalists and the socialists, the liberals and the conservatives. The capitalists have increased their profits by reaching an extraordinary number of people in a short time.

For example, powerful politicians around the globe use this median to get a favourable tilt; the same is valid with global corporations.

On the other hand, the socialists and intellectuals have conveyed their message effectively more than ever. They have acquired more followers than they had before the launch of the internet and social media revolution. Communication has taken a giant leap, and the world is connected through the wire and the virtual electronic web of computers. Working from home has been possible because of the ‘Zooms’ and ‘Teams’ and other relevant gadgetry. Knowledge and information have become available in our hands in the shape of the mobile phone screen.

Having said all that, one most significant fact is that it should have been a tool to uplift the poor from their misery, and the massive benefit should have gone to the common and the poor.

No doubt, social media has afforded opportunities for earning and learning to the poor and ordinary people more than ever, but much more is required to be done. Besides being a source of entertainment and communication, it should be made into creative activity and a job opportunity for our young people. It must contribute a lot to alleviating poverty.

Still more is to be done on the ethics side by introducing moral and ethical policing to keep everyone engaged in a crime-free environment.

The governments and NGOs must come forward in launching talent hunt programs in various work fields at multiple levels to create job opportunities. Moreover, free training and conversation sessions should be held to promote love for the state and its morals and minimize falsehood and negative tendencies being instilled in young minds. Above all, governments, universities, and other educational institutions must launch courses and certificates to train our people on the best use of social media.

The writer is a professor of English at Government Emerson University, Multan. He can be reached at zeadogar@hotmail.com and Tweets at @Profzee