Sides.

Are you confused? Are you living with the guilt of misplaced opinions compared to masses? Are you finding it difficult to make sense of conflicting truths you’re presented upon?

If you’re feeling any of the above, toh zinda ho tum!

While activism has reached the last man due to the platform provided by social media, it has also opened gates for misinformation, rumors, fear mongering and propaganda. This very dark effect of social media is why you must be careful before getting influenced by news feed and before you act stupid and strain real relationships with people over difference of opinion.

One must remember that all the content you absorb daily is a result of an algorithm that make you read similar stories of the impression you left on the internet with your surfing, activities, subscriptions and sometimes conversations. The other important aspect is that political parties at either end of the political spectrum will try to create a crises in order to spring back into the power or retain itself at that position as suites the best to their interests.

And hence, it becomes increasingly important for one to indulge in dialogue and prevent acting all egoistic, jingoistic and hyperventilating to every question challenging your morals and social understanding of the issues in the media. To tackle this, you just need to follow few basic guidelines —

#1 You are entitled to change your stand. Irrespective of how you started, with more information and clarity or understanding on the issue, you definitely can have a different stand and it doesn’t matter if someone calls you out for it. Agitation shouldn’t be watertight that it weighs you down to follow only one principle blindly. If you happen to do that, you are playing into the hands of the powerful who are trying to achieve their ends through your means.

#2 Read both sides of the opinions to understand the reaction better. You may not have had enough experiences in life to be sensitive to a certain aspect that someone else understands much better and with greater clarity. You must also remember that a lot of times, people are fighting fears of different time, era and source. For e.g. Someone is fighting to prevent the country from repeating third reich whereas someone is fighting to protect the country from the lense of direct action day. In this age of name-calling and coloring individuals from their opinion, the dialogue has been done away with and everything that people cling on to is giving labels, threats and marking the next person as ‘the other’

#3 Indulge in dialogue. Agree to disagree over certain matters but refrain from getting personal over matters that are discussed in media. You don’t need have the same opinions at your family dinner table, does it mean you abandon your family?

#4 Lastly, be constructive in your dissent. Do not play into violence that some groups try to ignite over every protest. If you happen to do that, the real reasons are lost and all that is concentrated on is violence. Distraction is an essential tool to divert attention onto things of no importance so one can move swiftly in implementing the other. Be alert, be aware and be woke, but by careful reading of for and against opinions and not letting yourself stumble into blind following. Be careful before your choose your Sides.