Many times, people from a particular group start tweeting about their demands, causing it to become a trend. It’s perceived as a significant event in the country at that time. But do the media and the government pay attention when ordinary people tweet about their problems and it trends?
You must have heard about trends on Twitter. When the number of tweets increases within a period of time on a particular issue, it starts trending. Often, marketing companies pay to trend, and the IT cells of political parties also work to trend topics organically. Sometimes, people start tweeting about an issue, and it gains traction to become a trend. Many times, people from a specific group tweet about their demands, leading it to trend. While it’s considered a significant incident, the question arises: do the media and the government pay attention when common people tweet about their problems and it trends? The trending youth often tag the Prime Minister, specific ministers, and media institutions’ Twitter handles so that everyone can see the distress message being sent by the public. The question remains: does trending on Twitter lead to action, or is it merely a formality with no tangible outcome?
In this context, students of SSC CGL 2017 have been trending for many days. Have they received significant media coverage? Has there been any response from the government? This is what we aim to analyze. Today, the issue of the recruitment of 69,000 teachers in Uttar Pradesh, along with the CGL examination, also trended. That’s what we want to understand. For this, let’s first explore the trending section on Twitter.
You’ll notice many things trending. In this list, you can see what has trended in the last 21 hours and how many tweets have been made on each issue, both in India and worldwide. Sometimes it appears that trending topics are aimed at the government, but do we truly understand how many issues trended in a month and what the outcomes were? It’s disheartening when people have to resort to trending to gain media attention so their issues can be conveyed to the government. Often, both the government and the media don’t pay attention, yet people continue to try trending.
For instance, on September 17, when you look at the list of trends, you’ll find strange things trending. Sometimes, you’ll see a government exam from Uttar Pradesh trending at number three or fourth. The result of the appointment of 69,000 teachers has been pending for eight months, and the youth from various districts of Uttar Pradesh are tweeting about it. They’ve amassed three and a half million tweets. Students of this exam are tweeting that the country cannot progress without qualified teachers. Shivani Gandhi tweeted that if they are appointed, they will vote for the government. Students also tag the Prime Minister and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, along with many news channels, hoping to get noticed. Rahul Gupta tweeted that four and a half lakh people have been waiting for their results for nine months and pleads for justice. Ashish Dubey tweeted that he won’t stop until he gets his appointment and will continue tweeting every day until he receives his rights and respect. These students have drafted a demand letter, styled as a congratulatory letter for the Prime Minister on his birthday, hoping for action on their demands.