Jun 24, 2007

Acrimonious Anon's


(Pic adopted from Keyhole)

In the past 10 days, I have observed a drastic increase in the number of 'anonymous' comments in Tamil blogs, mainly due to 'Sivaji' reviews and related news. Some of those who couldn't accept the verdict of the bloggers unfortunately chose to express their protest trying to chagrin the authors. This is true for both the non-fans and the ardent fans of Rajni. This has resulted in quite a bit of distasteful comments and abusive language as well.. This, coming from the educated-and-thus-supposedly-good-mannered people, is disappointing.

If you are a regular reader of 'Rediff', you would have observed a lot of attention devoted to 'Sivaji' in the main page itself, for nearly 3 weeks. Initially there were comments ranging from 'why to cover regional films on the main page' to 'I donno who is Rajni'. As more and more articles started to appear, the comments got derogatory along the lines of northies vs southies. The color, habits, food, languages and films in general were abused to such an extent that they had to be removed by rediff.. but by then the damage was done.

Another relatively new feature in Rediff is 'Spotting the stars'. Those who spotted VIPs from cine industry and cricket, clicked fotos and sent to Rediff with the excitement that their fotos will be published, were made to repent later. Several readers started using expletives, commenting on the appearance of those in the snaps, attacking their region and so on.

All these instances leave a bitter taste in the mouth. These show that it is so easy for us desis to hate each other and show it as well; the anonymity that the internet provides is exploited to the hilt to spit venomous remarks at will. No wonder that, when there is an event that tests our unity, the result often reflects a failure in humanity.

13 comments:

Unknown said...

hiding behind an anon label is just plain cowardice!

:(

Anonymous said...

At first I thought that rediff could easily enough stop the feedback from the readers.

But rediff wants people to fight. It makes the readers hang out at rediff site lot more.

Anonymous said...

“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” - Albert Einstein

Raju said...

Sundar, true.. If someone in blogosphere disagrees with what someone writes, what prevents him or her in writing a strong comment openly? W'd he/she get sued or what?
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Anon1, I agree with you. It's time Rediff had a moderation system in place for the comments.
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Anon2, hmmm... This is also a case of cynicism exceeding humanity.

Anonymous said...

If one can't take the heat ( other's opinions) then he/she has to leave the kitchen.

2 wrongs doesn't make a right.

Anonymous said...

one can always remain anonymous provided he gives constructive comments :)

Ponnarasi Kothandaraman said...

Very nice thought provoking post. The same thing happened when i made a post on Ajith sometime back!

People try to change other person's view about their favorite personalities. They hardly realise that everyone is entitled to their own views and perceptions! Things would be better if they not try 2 change others, Instead jus respect others views as it is!

A very nice post indeed!

Anonymous said...

Director Jeeva has passed away due to cardiac arrest :(

Raju said...

Vikramaditya, loved ur kitchen example.. kewll.. :) Totally agree on that..

Well said about 'constructive comments'.. As it is one's freedom of expression to write anything in his/her blog, it is the reader's freedom too to opine in the comments section of the semi-public, semi-private portals..
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Ponnarasi, thanks.. :)

As you said, even if someone's view about a personality or a subject is not 100% right, it is his/her personal choice.. So better to leave it at that.
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Anon, that was a very shocking news. He was one of those rare breed of directors who were in my list of 'can hardly go wrong'.. Tamil cinema has lost a genuine talent. May his soul rest in peace.

Me too said...

I am not the confrontational type and I hardly ever win arguements! Many times I've felt tempted to hide behind the safety of anon to lash at really atrocious posts/comments!!

Raju said...

Aparna, it is not even a question of winning or losing an argument but simply conveying a different opinion, which some people peacefully.. :) on ur last sentence.. It reminds me of 'Anniyan' where the doctors discuss about suppressed anger and frustrations.

tt_giant said...

pathetic situation. amazing to see how a seemingly innocent post can quickly eke out so many corrosive comments!

rediff la worst-aa irukkum!

Raju said...

Deepak, hmm.. Good to see that Rediff has disabled commenting in such of its pages.. At last..