I want to talk about the ‘Snapchat fiasco’ that has been going around because I am irritated. I am perturbed by the fact that without knowing anything, people have been yapping endlessly and sharing idiotic memes. They have been furiously deactivating their accounts with#BoycottSnapchat, only to re-activate it at the earliest.
So, for the people who targeted the CEO of Snapchat for calling India ‘poor’, I have an actual fact for you. First of all, India is penury stricken despite all the developments and consistent increase in the GDP. According to the World Bank in 2014, 872.3 million people live below the new poverty line. Of the total, 179.6 million people lived in India, which amounts to a whopping 20.6% of the complete figure. This is a testament to the fact that we are still a poor nation.
Now, let’s address the issue at hand, which is not about India being a poor or rich country but the remark of the CEO of Snapchat on India.
Firstly, [envoke_twitter_link]did the CEO actually say what everyone has been making a fuss about?[/envoke_twitter_link] Without knowing the eccentricities of an issue, the mob is busy mocking and ridiculing the company for reasons they deem fit. However, the reality has a different face of the mirror to show. Let’s now talk about that.
So, technically, the Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel hasn’t spoken about India in public. Snapchat’s ex-employee Anthony Pompliano, who was fired from Snapchat, has claimed in a lawsuit that Spiegel in September 2015 had told him, “The app is only for rich people. I don’t want to expand it to poor countries like India and Spain.” So, where’s the truth? How can we be sure that he actually said this?
The credibility of both the source and the information itself play a pivotal role. If we take a look at the source of the information, it is Anthony Pompliano, who was himself fired from the company. For a moment, let’s just all agree that the CEO did actually make such a remark. But, why is everyone applauding the alleged act of some hackers infiltrating into the company’s networks and releasing a data of nearly 1.7 million app users. Snapchat has denied it.
However, why are people appreciating such an act? They are being ‘proud’ of what a fraction of Indians did. But for who’s sake? Why do we Indians make a fuss of anything and relate it to nationalism? Does patriotism and nationalism command forgoing rationality and not pondering over the logic that governs an issue? The need of the hour is to get to the roots of an issue before making any remarks or comments. Let’s grow up to be a more responsible, rational society and focus on vital things rather than making a hue and cry about something as insignificant as this.
Becoming a ‘true’ nationalist has become quite an easy task, just uninstall an application and voilà, there you go.
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