Foreigners feel astonished to see that people here in our country are so infatuated with Facebook. Every user is a social butterfly in this country, and they count on the gossips and the information circulated on Facebook to a great extent.The problem arises when we start believing every piece of information (which may be gossip as well) circulated on social networking sites.

We have already witnessed many such events — the Ramu incident — where people have carried out vandalism or even killed innocent people believing gossip or rumours disseminated on Facebook.But the question is: Why are people getting persuaded by everything they see on Facebook so blindly?

There is no denying that the mainstream media (both electronic and print) has utterly failed to live up to the mass readers or viewers’ expectations in recent times. As media cannot cater to every conceivable need of the readers/viewers, they have turned away from mainstream media and an inclination to social networking sites have gradually grown among them.

If we analyze some points, it will be very clear how social media is actually taking over the role of the mainstream media. First, the most vital duty of the media is to enlighten the readers or viewers with the right information.Especially when it comes to momentous events of the country, people used to rely highly on media, but in the recent years, mainstream media could not rise to the occasion and satisfy the readers’ thirst for information.

Second, mainstream media has lost its credibility owing to a lack of objectivity. Objective journalism is gradually eroding and only a handful of media houses are trying hard to cling to the ethics of journalism despite the barriers.Most media houses are now owned and controlled by business magnates. Consequently, the prime responsibility of the media outlets has been experiencing a drastic change, as they are now more focused on serving the purposes of the business entities.As a result, the readers/viewers are also shifting their attention from mainstream media to social media (as those sites are still considered to be independent platforms for expressing your subjective opinions).

Third, censorship has been a driving force in this regard. In 1644, John Milton wrote “Areopagitica,” where he opposed the idea of licensing and censorship. At that time, an order was issued by the parliament of England with a provision of government approval and licensing for all published books.This was a direct blow to freedom of expression. Milton opposed the idea and tried to explain why such control was a threat to civil liberty. Though it was written in the 17th century, it seems that the modern-day rulers still do not realize its implications.

Such censorship and control over mainstream media will only add to the crisis instead of solving it. Rather, they resort to something virtual like Facebook and that’s why it has become so easy to spread propaganda or rumours on social networking sites.