A Facebook conversation that illustrates the perils of copying and pasting status messages, or sharing links, without studying closely those messages or links-1

Commitscion Noyon Jyoti Parasara (Class of 2007), who works with Mumbai Mirror, graciously consented to let me reproduce this discussion we had on Facebook earlier this week:


Noyon Jyoti Parasara

Interesting news feature. Indian corruption... congress and all involved

An Explosive story on Indian Corruption....must watch

This video is banned in India by Youtube...Please spare some time to watch this video and share as much you can...its an explosive report on Indian corruption which has never covered by Indian Media why? a big question mark..this is self explanatory why Congress not in favour of JanLokpal bill..

Length: ‎6:48

Friday at 12:20am ·  ·  · Share

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    Ramesh Prabhu Is this authentic? Or is this a propaganda clip? Does YouTube actually ban videos in India? Is that possible, Noyon?
    

    Friday at 10:29am · 
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    Noyon Jyoti Parasara Sir youtube can ban videos according to geographic locations. Certain videos are not available in India.
    Talking about facts.. Vadra is indeed a part of DLF as well as Unitech. There were reports in ET and some DNA.
    

    Friday at 10:35am · 
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    Ramesh Prabhu First question: Who decides on banning certain videos?
    

    Friday at 10:49am · 
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    Ramesh Prabhu Second question: Who produced this propaganda film? When there's no "author", what does it say about the credibility of the work?
    

    Friday at 10:50am · 
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    Noyon Jyoti Parasara It should be a propaganda feature considering it is quite lop-sided. But then sir, propaganda is not always lies...
    

    Friday at 10:53am · 
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    Ramesh Prabhu I agree. But please leave it to propagandists to publicise their propaganda. Journalists have no business asking people to watch this propaganda film.
    

    Friday at 10:55am · 
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    Noyon Jyoti Parasara But sir, any such feature is worth watching. Propaganda or not... would you not agree? Even if it just means to know what Propagandists are up to. And what information they can throw forth. To use it in the newspapers is where we could use restraint...
    

    Friday at 10:59am · 
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    Noyon Jyoti Parasara About youtube - the producer, the govt or the producer can decide
    

    Friday at 11:00am · 
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    Ramesh Prabhu Sure, experienced journalists, who have a healthy scepticism by training, should watch all kinds of clips (and read all kinds of literature) to be able to better understand the world around them. But they should not publicise propaganda films on sites like Facebook without at least a disclaimer: THIS IS A PROPAGANDA FILM. KEEP THAT IN MIND IF YOU'RE WATCHING IT.
    
    If there's no disclaimer, people watching this propaganda film will believe what they are seeing -- especially because a journalist is recommending it. Isn't that wrong?
    

    Friday at 11:03am · 
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    Ramesh Prabhu As for YouTube's banning policy -- can I read an authentic version somewhere? Can you send me the link? I want to see this for myself. I have a healthy scepticism, you see.
    

    Friday at 11:04am · 
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    Noyon Jyoti Parasara Agreed. Should have added that part
    

    Friday at 11:09am · 
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    Ramesh Prabhu And the YouTube banning policy link?
    

    Friday at 11:09am · 
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    Noyon Jyoti Parasara I will check and get a link. I know that they can restrict as I have come across such videos where Youtube mentions it cannot be seen in India. Infact films like Striker were released for free on Youtube. but indians could not watch it.. as the producers had an agreement with youtube. only viewers in US could see it.
    

    Friday at 11:12am · 
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    Ramesh Prabhu That can happen with "legal" films, like "Striker", but I doubt YouTube has a policy banning clips like the one you are trying to publicise. Please continue the search for the link.
    
    This is the trap one falls in when one copies and pastes status messages. If you were not sure about the YouTube policy, why did you not act when you saw that line at the top: "This video is banned in India by Youtube"?
    

    Friday at 11:16am · 
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    Noyon Jyoti Parasara I did not see that line. i just saw the video. I saw it only when you pointed.
    And sir, sometimes you can't fight evil by playing by the rules. :)
    

    Friday at 11:21am · 
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    Noyon Jyoti Parasara having said that i will try getting to the source of the video
    

    Friday at 11:21am · 
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    Ramesh Prabhu Don't you see what you are copying and pasting, Noyon? I worry about that. And are you telling me that you are trying to "fight evil" by publicising this propaganda film? I don't get it.
    

    Friday at 11:22am ·  ·  1 person
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    Noyon Jyoti Parasara The film does have facts. Facts i did not know... i checked that what the video mentioned about his business is not false. How people use those facts is again another matter. And i would like to leave it to them. No censorship.
    

    Friday at 11:27am · 
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    Noyon Jyoti Parasara But as i admitted, I should have mentioned it is a propaganda film
    

    Friday at 11:27am · 
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    Ramesh Prabhu Can you send me the links to the facts that you did not know since you checked them?
    

    Friday at 11:30am

Also read: A Facebook conversation that illustrates the perils of copying and pasting status messages, or sharing links, without studying closely those messages or links-2

Two benefits of Twitter that I can think of

1. You get a maximum of 140 characters for your tweet, so you need to be brief and, at the same time, you have to be clear about what you are saying. Not very different from being a journalist? In any case, Twitter helps to sharpen your editing skills. Here's how:

A recent status message I posted on Facebook:

The next time you're at Subway, go for the Italian BMT — it really hits the spot! Leave out the "pickle" (as I did yesterday), add an extra dose of the jalapeno, and stick to the barbeque and honey-mustard sauces. Important: Ask for the honey-oat bread. Scrumptious!

I had to edit it down for Twitter:

Next time at Subway, go for the Italian BMT on honey-oat bread. No "pickle"; extra jalapeno; barbeque and honey-mustard sauces. Divine!

BTW, I didn't know what BMT stood for. Here's what I learned from Yahoo Answers:

The "B.M.T." sandwich at Subway was originally named after the "Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit." Consisting of sliced genoa salami, pepperoni, ham and your choice of salad, it has become one of the chain's most popular subs. With time, the sub's name has evolved to mean "Biggest, Meatiest, Tastiest."

2. As Neilima Bh. P. (Class of 2012) pointed out in a Facebook conversation recently, you get to "follow" celebs, experts, stars, even well-known journalists (though you have to hope that it's not some PR hacks tweeting on their clients' behalf) and read what they have to say about issues that interest them (and possibly us). I follow Rajdeep Sardesai, for instance, and his tweets bring me up to date on the major news events of the day. One of Rajdeep's tweets also led to my discovering the Indicast Podcast Network, in my opinion the best Indian website for podcasts. Media students will love IPN and our AVC students who need to produce a radio feature will get some ideas — check it out here.

• Satish Perumal (Class of 2011) adds: We think of Twitter and Facebook as networking tools which we use to keep in touch with friends and relatives. I, too, thought these networking sites were good only for having a... er, good time, an escape tunnel from the real world to the virtual one.
  
  But I did a rethink recently after a job interview with a social marketing company, Uncut Donut. The interviewer asked me for my Twitter ID and immediately scanned all my tweets, looked at my profile, and tried to get a fix on what kind of topics interest me. I was taken aback a bit by this turn of events and did not know how to react.
  
  Moral of the story: These networking sites might be fun, but these days they are a launch pad for the careers of many ambitious youngsters. And HR departments use them as recruitment tools too. So go ahead and get cracking with your networking!

How true, Satish. The best advice then for those using Twitter and Facebook would be this: When you apply for a job, you may be judged on the basis of your virtual life. So, mind your language. Think of interesting and intelligent status messages and tweets. And when you post pictures think about how these pictures may influence a potential employer. Sure, you may argue that your privacy settings will protect you, but what's to stop a "friend" from copying and forwarding content from your page? — RP

• Also read: "Facebook: Boon or bane?"