© Media Watch 8 (3) 327-338, 2017 ISSN 0976-0911 e-ISSN 2249-8818 DOI: 10.15655/mw/2017/v8i3/49146 We Saw the Smoking Gun: Conflict, Audience Participation and Digital Journalism

JACOBO CORDOBA JAQUEZ School of Anthropology and History of Northern Mexico, Mexico

This article describes the context that the city of Chihuahua, Mexico witnessed during the years 2007-2012 regarding the war that took place between the Mexican government and organized crime groups; centering the analysis on the particular role that the different types of newspapers (digital and printed) played on informing the violence that resulted from such conflict. This peculiar context gave way to a particular form of seeking and informing the news (journalist point of view) and the way the audience participated, perceived and even witnessed the conflict first hand (the audience point of view). The main theoretical framework utilized to describe this case study is trough sociology of risk and uncertainty as well as the anthropology of violence and war. To fully comprehend the complexities of such context, and the social role the journalist and the audience played during the conflict, the main methodological approach utilized is ethnography as well as discourse and content analysis. This particular case provides a unique understanding of how a peculiar form of the free press was given way by a conflict that involved many sectors of society.

Keywords: Risk, uncertainty, violence, online newspaper, digital journalism

During the administration of President Felipe Calderon which began on 2006 and ended in 2012, a conflict began to brew, leaving several repercussions that are felt to this day in many states of the country; the war against organized crime and the drug cartels. The violence that this conflict brought was in one part well known and localized in certain regions of the country, giving the many power of the state a fighting chance given that the encounter between the conflicting factions, the state, and the organized crime groups were few and far between; and on the other hand it began during this period to be more and continuously widespread and in many cases reported -by news media-, lived and witness on a daily basis. For a lack of a better expression, thing got out of hand, in the sense that it was not only the organizations of the state in care of the security of the people such as municipal and federal police agencies and the military fighting against the many organized crime groups disputing territories and control that were involved in the conflict; however there were many crime syndicates, paramilitary and self-defense regional organizations also involved.

Correspondence to: Jacobo Cordoba Jaquez, Department Of Social Anthropology, School of Anthropology and History of Northern Mexico, 5 de Febrero Street and National Polytechnic Institute (28th street) #301, Col. Guadalupe, CP 31410, Chihuahua, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 327 Smoking Gun: Jaquez

A hard stance against crime was the policy of the administrations at the time, surprising a large amount of the population, given that in a matter of months the conflict that once was concentrated in the many mountain ranges of the country began to migrate to major cities and into the streets, or as many people referred to as the conflict being “in our door step”. In the years that came, and on new administration led by President Enrique Peña Nieto, things have changed in some regions but the phenomena that this peculiar kind of conflict generated a singular form of violence that has migrated to other regions of the country. The conflict is now addressed in a lees aggressive standpoint, giving way to a more; justice must be procured attitude and discourse. But none the less the conflict is present in the streets, in the news –being digital, televised or printed- and in the mindset of the citizenship. Given this background in context, this article explains the way this war against crime and drugs was addressed by several news media in the city of Chihuahua in the state by the same name, describing how in particular the digital media news procured a peculiar form of active audience participation in the news itself and the way the conflict was perceived and shaped a consensual way in which people behaved during this particular time.

Methodology

Social phenomena being complex by nature requires its own means to understand the many variables and relations that individuals and society procure and act on a contextual basis. It is well known that many social sciences have their peculiar method to understand, analyze and describe their study object. However, giving that there is a distinction in a method as there is given in the disciplines, sometimes the social situation (Spradley, 2016)-as some call it-, needs combining methodologies or adapting them to the phenomena, the individuals and the context that is needed or intended to either describe or analyze. In this peculiar case study, we have several peculiarities when it comes to the methodology applied. Such is the case of ethnography, virtual ethnography, and content analysis. Ethnography describes actions, behaviors, traditions, culture and activities in any given society. We could summarize ethnography in terms of discovering and describing the actions that individuals undertake in their social contextualized integration, in the sense and meaning that the individuals give to their actions. Ethnography pretends to describe culturally meaningful behavior in a social context (Conklin, 1975:153) for this to be done a determined time in the field is required. Given the vast range of this approach, ethnography became the basic form of social investigation (Galindo, 1998:348-350). However, ethnography contemplates more than description as we would further state clear; it also includes comprehension and interpretations of social phenomena. This permits to consider constantly and profoundly about the reality and meaning of what is being observed, listened and experienced. This is because ethnography incorporates the very experiences, beliefs, attitudes, thoughts and reflections of the participants in the social phenomena and context. This is important given that in the peculiarities of the case study here described and analyzed, we take into account as an important factor the terms and meanings that individuals give to their actions, sentiment, emotions and relations by and from their own point of view and perspective; such will be the case of the social perception of fear and risk that made way in a context of violence and uncertainty. Qualitative research and therefore ethnography proposes to discover what is behind social actions, based on the meaning that individuals 328 Media Watch 8 (3) give to their attitudes and behaviors; the meaning of every individual derives or emerges from their social interaction and the meaning is given trough their interpretation and actions. From a general standpoint and now that we are well aware of the relevant application of this methodology in social analysis, ethnography is then understood as the sociological and cultural method that studies, describes and classifies cultures or people. From this perspective it is sometimes distinguished as a theory that describes; this perspective has led to believe that ethnography is but the reflexing of a concrete reality, an empirical datum, absolute and relative according to arbitrary categories (Santana, 1996). It is then more than evident so far that ethnography is the centerpiece in the forward description of the use and understanding that individuals give to the online newspaper. But it is necessary to state clear further peculiarities of the methodology applied in this case study, given that it lacks one of its main elements; place. The place or scenario represents the physical placement, where individuals or participants share an activity. These three elements; scenario, individuals, and activities all intertwined assign or create a context. But to contextualize in this case study we must go further, then these elements, given that we have already included the sociopolitical particularities, and we will further include the social perception and the cultural particularities of the individuals that we set to describe thru social mediated practices. Here is where the central breakthrough is established, traditional ethnographic approach contemplates only the elements to construct context as theme being approachable or tangible. And we do not deny that. This study is placed in as we mentioned in the city of Chihuahua, Mexico; however, the scenario in which activity took place is not a physical one; it’s virtual or digital. The current ethnographic approach that is also featured here is denominated virtual or digital ethnography. This approach takes into consideration the many possibilities that digital technology and social media produce peculiar cultural behavior. Many have been said about virtual ethnography, however, the one approach that has been referenced many times and has been the one that has helped the most in this study is the one proposed by Christine Hine. This author contemplates that the internet can be viewed and understood in many ways; as culture and as a cultural artifact. Firstly the Internet as culture is understood as the place or scenario where certain behavior has significant meaning to individuals that began to interact in certain activities in online spaces. Communities are therefore created and become somewhat important and perceptible by the users the social scientist. In this case, the ethnographic approach becomes the form to study the culturally significant context made possible by the users and not the tangible displaceable physical space (Hine, 200; 21). This type of ethnography involves the real-time approach with the multiple forms of interacting with individuals. This new space for ethnographic study takes into account the socially determined interactive scenario. However, this does limit the interaction to the online. The formation of communities and the construction of identities understood in the traditional way (Castells, 2016) have exacerbated the tendency to view the internet as a culturally contained space. But the internet is the place where culture also develops. Therefore cyberspace becomes and is a plausible scenario for social scientific inquiry. Secondly, the Internet as cultural artifact refers to the idea that the internet is the product of a culture, not a culture. It’s more in the scene that is a technology created by people that have defined objectives and priorities contextually situated and defined (Woolgar, 1996). To refer this perspective implies the assumption that reality could have been different, given that the definitions of what is and what does, are the result of cultural 329 Smoking Gun: Jaquez comprehension that could be different (Hine, 2000). We could say that the users or participants are involved in the construction of technology through the understanding of the practices and the content that they create; the internet, therefore, is confirmed by a constant social process (2000). Finally, it’s important to outline that regardless of the perspective or the elements implied in the understanding of a social context, a constant in ethnography as a social investigation practice, is that it remits itself to a space-time context. And it obligates the social scientist to interact whit the otherness. We will finally mention that it was necessary to the full comprehension of the social context the implementation of content analysis. Given that the temporality of the many opinions given to understand the significance of the social phenomena it has necessary to recognize how opinion, information, and participation were taking place in the many digital newspapers. Content analysis entails a systematic reading of a body of texts, images, and symbolic matter, not necessary from an author’s or user’s perspective (Krippendorff, 2004). People and in this case the individuals that participated actively, regularly or rarely giving their opinions, left regardless of the temporality or the quantity of the participation left a trace of their perception and a valuable insight in how society understood and gave meaning to their lived social context. A content analyst is important because it infers phenomena that cannot be observed directly. The inability to observe phenomena of interest is the primary motivation for using content analysis (2004).Content analysis is of great help because it has its own approach to analyzing data that stems largely from how the object of analysis, content, is conceived. Online participation in form of comments and opinions are seen as conversation and the important feature of conversational interactions is that they take place in and generate interpersonal relations and define their own conditions for continuing the process. Conversation analysis has emerged as one approach to the study of talk or this case text in natural settings (Atkinson & Heritage, 1984).

Violence, Fear and Risk: Perception at Play

Violence as a term is its usage in many ways molded by different people as well as by many social scientists, to describe a whole range of events, fillings, and harm. The true problem of defining violence is not that there is no consent or agreement on how thing is to be explained; it is that there is no agreement on what is to be explained, or whether there is a single set of phenomena to explained (Burbaker & Laitin, 1998: 427). Therefore in order to understand and grasp a clear way in what violence means it is necessary to view it as something mutable and fluid rather than something fixed or stationary (Stanko, 2005). Fortunately, efforts have been made in many branches of social science to understand violence. In order to do so, it is critical to take in consideration context. Given that, as we mentioned earlier ethnography has no problem considering the many factors, elements, and variables that context has necessary to procure certain phenomena. However, understanding the context of violence means that it is necessary we describe or specify what happened when it happened, where and between whom the phenomena occur. So far we have been setting the stage -if you will- of the phenomena in terms of context. It is essential to leave clear several elements; the act itself, the relationship of the participants to each other, the location of the act and the outcome or the resultant damage. In our case, we will concentrate in the outcome. In order to outline the many elements, forms, and types of violence given in our context analysis it is necessary to address that they are the consequence of conflict. Even 330 Media Watch 8 (3) there are many nonviolent paths to conflict solution such as relocation, exchange, territoriality, preventive or compensatory strategies rather than violent confrontation; this is not as effective as violence does to their prolonged effectiveness (Albers, 1993). By making the link between violence and conflict we address the social ramifications that violence; expresses some sort of relationship and the acts are not random, violence is not completely senseless or meaningless, so it’s never totally dissociated from instrumental rationality, and finally, violence is not an entirely an isolated act; it is a product of a historical process that transcends the conflict itself. Therefore thru conflict is an instrumental practice, historically situated by culturally represented structures. Violence is an act of physical hurt deemed legitimate by the performer and by some witness; it is a very efficient way of transforming the social environment -as we will describe that happened thru digital news sites participation- and staging an ideological message before a public audience, since the violent act is relatively easy to perform and it is highly visible and concrete (Riches, 1986). We now have stated that conflict has one its main results the act or the “to do” of violence. Violence in order to understand it, it needs to be deconstructed into several factors and variables. So far, we know that violence and conflict are related and procure context to social phenomena. But to understand the social interpretation and meaning of violence we must take into consideration, not the acts of violence themselves—they are as we have stated clear essential- but not total. We must think more of the consequences or outcomes in a more emotional such consequence; in this case fear. Fear is a negatively valued emotion (Witte & Allen, 2000). In the same way, that violence is related to conflict and we must understand the relation between the two, fear also has an inner deep relation with another concept and it is necessary to fully now how and in what way fear operates; I am referring to risk. Fear and risk are closely related, risk has come to stand as one of the focal points of fillings of fear, anxiety, and uncertainty (Lupton, 1999). Now a day’s reflections on risk are absorbed into a wider culture of insecurity, victimization, and fear (Cohen, 2002). Given the conditions of the conflict at the moment in the context that we mention, violence thru the war against crime, when it comes to fear of crime our fears and resentments and also our commonsense narratives and understandings, become settled cultural facts that are sustained and reproduce by communicated rules about fillings and also ideas about what those fillings means or as some put it acted by cultural scripts (Garland, 2001). The impact of fear is sometimes determined by the situation to find themselves in, but to some extent, it is also the product of social construction; fear is determined by individuals and the interaction with others (Altheide, 2002) so fear does not just happen; it is socially constructed. The meaning and the experience of fear are constantly shaped by cultural and historical factors. These historical and cultural factors procure social structures; what we fear, find fearful, and how we find it, is dependent upon how everyday life is conducted. The repeated patterns of the routine of social activity that form social structures and the many relations among individuals that they take for granted have an effect on the construction of fear just as they do in every other aspect of human endeavor (Tudor, 2003). Society is moving from a community of misery of social class to a community of fear; a risk society. We live in an age where cohesion arises from fear and it turns into a political force (Beck, 1998). Aside from the idea of political force- that sometimes does happen in digital activism, we will address the idea of cohesion thru the social structures that fear, risk conflict and, violence procured. 331 Smoking Gun: Jaquez

When referred to a society of risk is to address and find individuals that perceive themselves in a society in risk; individuals find themselves in a condition that makes them feel at drift; family, religious organizations, the government and even academia are no longer the safe harbors they once were. Communities become fractured either by the growing atomization of the urban landscape or by the uneven roughens of inequality of centralized powers. It is no easy task to understand a society that with difficulty finds itself fearful of the present and is aggravated by the future. Conflict and the violence it brings have as its consequence a society of risk hampered with fear. As conflict and violence become our scenario we state clear that fear is the shared emotion of a society whose mindset is a risk.

Digital Newspaper: The Space of Participation and Meaning

The population of the city of Chihuahua, Mexico during the years that President Felipe Calderon applied a hard stance policy against organized crime and drug trafficking groups, many main cities that house the major concentration of the population in the state suffered the most in the wave of crimes at the highest of the conflict. Chihuahua is a northern state of the Mexican republic and is also a state that shares the border with the United States of America state of Texas. The main border crossing is the adjacent cities of Juarez and El Paso. Being Chihuahua a border state, the capital –of the same name as the state—and Juarez struggled by the most violent acts. However, we will concentrate in the capital itself given that it was the one that saw the mayor increase of local digital news sites at the time. In the year 2009, the city of Chihuahua had approximately between 20 and 28 websites that informed the news through digital means. By the year 2010, that number grew to approximately 180 to 200 websites. Some of them lasted a few months and others simply shared the news of the most consolidated sites. This presented a peculiar form to not only view the news but also it presented the peculiar form of making and participating on the news via social media comments. The participants on the news given by the conflicting violent context where on one side the reporters that was on the field documenting and publishing the news and other hand we have the receivers or spectators being informed. At the time society lived in a constant state of alert, fear and risk. Many people at the time witnessed, lived at first hand or knew someone who either lived or witnessed a violent act. There was a constant fear to see, witness or observe some type of violence. The sense of threat was ever present; people would not discuss the witness or know in public places in fear of being listened by a member of the criminal groups. A good friend once put it in very clear terms; “we must be like the three little monkeys, we must not see even if it’s in front of you and you can’t close your eyes, we must not speak even if it’s the only thing to say, and we must not hear, even if it’s deafening.” The situation as we said got so out of hand that people were afraid to even read the newspaper in a public place. It was not in vain that during this time the proliferation of digital news grew. Digital media and virtual environments or spaces permit certain liberties when it comes to opinions and active comment participation. In the dawn of social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter and so on; they allowed peculiar forms of information appropriation and meaning. They permitted real-time participation and discussion of the active conflict or context, not only to be informed were allowed without repercussion, but the ability to participate and comment made way to a sense of community. No longer was it necessary to wait for the printed news; time and space no longer became a restraint. And an even more important feature presented itself; the possibility of being without the self; anonymity. 332 Media Watch 8 (3)

Anonymity or the lack of identifiability allows the ability to express on true mind unrestrained by concerns by concerns of self-presentation (Spears &Lea, 1994; 430). Digital technology, the internet, and social media set the stage necessary for individuals to share experiences, ideas, and fears. We have mentioned so far and left clear the variables in the context, the context itself and methodological peculiarities. Now it is necessary to provide the results of the applied methodology and relate theme to the conceptual framework. Before we go further, I must state clear that the testimonies here presented are protected by anonymity. The many informants that allowed me to provide on record their experiences were very clear that in order to share their understanding, it was necessary they remain anonymous, given the sensible nature of the conflict described. Therefore reporters will be referred to as “reporter#1” and “reporter#2”, and the participants in social media will be referred to as “Participant by numbering them and Commentator also by numbering them.

Experience of a Digital Reporter

In order to understand and describe the way journalism was being done at the time, it became necessary to witness first-hand the job of the reporter. It was no easy task at first given that reporters were firstly doing a job, secondly, they were in as they put it “in the line of fire” and finally even do they competed with each other to get the story first, they are a very close circle; meaning as they say they “watch each other’s back”. After trying to get an interview in many newspapers for weeks finally one reporter granted me his time. My first approach was quite unconventional; midtown rush hour in a summer afternoon on a busy street was the place we first met. This was because he was on the clock -meaning he was working and any time he could go a chase a story or a note- and the sound of the police monitor was in the highest volume, a common tool they say “to be always alert if any incident occurs we are set and ready to move”. After a couple of cigarettes and as he explained to me how the police monitor worked Reporter#1 says “it’s a difficult job, one must be not only alert of what may happen in terms of looking for a story or reporting something, but also it is necessary to be aware that this is nonetheless a war, and we are war reporters. The only difference is that the war takes place in the city you grew up in, and thing only seem normal. Right now we see traffic in the streets, mothers picking up their children from school, people leaving work and going to their houses, families in the park, people picking up groceries, high school kids in their uniforms waiting for the bus and such. But in any time, any place and at any moment hell brakes lose, you hear gunshots or the monitor sounds and then the face of war appears. You realize that normality is something that can dissipate in an instant, one must forget everything and remember that we carry on our daily lives in a battle zone”. He receives a message on his cell phone and says he has to take off, another one of his colleagues has told him that someone got killed in front of a school while he was picking up his kids from school; “you see normality becomes war in an instant” and he takes off, not after agreeing to meet again. After this first experience, things became more clear; the news reporters were indeed in the line of fire, being even the first to arrive on the scene before the police or any other security agencies. It was crucial the involvement and participation of this individual in the conflict. They were the agents that allowed the information to flow and become accessible to the public. After a couple of days, I called Reporter#1 and asked him if he had time for another interview. He gladly agreed and we meet on one of the downtown’s largest sports and 333 Smoking Gun: Jaquez recreation areas, this place shares areas with many university faculties so it’s a very large and very public place; the Ciudad Deportiva or Sports city. This time however he was not alone, he introduced me to Reporter#2, he was an older than Reporter#1, three years to be precise – he was thirty-six years old- “this is my friend – said Reporter#1— he works for another digital newspaper but we work together sometimes to watch each other back. We even throw each other work sometimes; we pass on some tips every now and then” he says this with a nervous smile. After being presented and hearing the police monitor on the back of their cars I see many digital cameras, two laptop computers, and a couple of cell phones being charged in the cigarette lighter power outlet and I ask –what was all of that for? And they proceed to explain “this are our working tools, we need all of this to take pictures and report the occurrence that we get to witness. “Usually –explains Reporter#2— we get either the call from another colleague or from the police monitor that something has happened, a murder, a gunshot, an assassination or whatever…and then we go to the scene and take pictures talk to a couple of people, immediately we come back to the car and write the report, upload the best picture and upload it to the newspaper or send it to the editor that in a matter of minutes upload it himself. We must always have everything with batteries charged as well as extra batteries ready; our cell phones have an internet connection so we plug them to our laptops in order to upload everything. Sometimes we go to the office and download everything, and the editors do the work of putting everything together, but when it’s a busy day we have to do everything in the back seat of the car” – I ask what did they meant with a busy day and Reporter#1 smiles at me and replies- “a busy day they is when we have multiple incidents to report, meaning that many people get killed in one day” surprised by his answer I ask when was the last busy day they remember. Reporter#2 reacts first and tells me “I remember one day, in particular, it was a weekend I don’t remember quite if it was a long holiday weekend, but it was crazy. I got into work at about nine in the morning and got the first call, some police officer found a body wrapped in a blanket in the outskirts of the city, it was a man and he was tortured and had his fingers cut and one was put in his mouth; this meant that he was a snitch and told something to someone that he mustn’t. You see the drug cartels do these types of things; they leave messages with their victims, for either other criminal groups or to the authorities. It’s some kind of gruesome telegraph. As I was uploading the report I heard the police monitor reporting that on the other side of the city multiple homicides occurred. I drove to the scene and the police and another reporter were already there. Apparently, some drug dealers were surpassing the territory of a drug cartel and got killed for it; five men on a pickup truck were killed with high caliber weapons. That took some time to report; by breakfast, I got a call from a friend that works on another digital newspaper that a young couple was found tighten up and eyes folded in a car in a neighborhood known for drug and gang problems. After that, a gun fight occurred but no casualties were reported only injured. By the end of the day I got the call that a car chase ended up in a gunfight between criminal groups outside a supermarket, four dead and two injured, one of the injured was a man that was shopping for groceries. It’s like leaving in Gotham city but without any batman” they both laugh. After this experience I asked what were the difficulties of doing this type of journalism, Reporter #1 replied “thing don’t get any easier as you go on reporting this type of incidents. Sometimes some of us have seen the pick-up trucks or the getaway vehicles all shot as we get close to the scene; that type of things gets in your head. You realize that you are the first to get on the scene and a still smell the gunpowder on the air when you get there. At first, we use to report as we got there but now it is necessary to wait for the police or an official authority to get the permit to get close to the scene. But things got very 334 Media Watch 8 (3) difficult for some of us because by reporting these incidents, not only the public was getting the news but also the other criminal groups, so if we did not report the incident some reporters got beat up or threatened by the criminal groups. For example, a friend of mine got beat up because the picture he took of a message written on a tarp – narco manta are called- that hang on a bridge of a busy highway got folded by the wind and the message could not be seen completely. Some reporter got called that the pictures were taken where not good and that next time they must take them from a closer angle. You see that type of things get in your head; you do fell sometimes secure behind the camera. When you punch that card and get off the clock reality sinks in. you are in traffic or at the park and then you here a couple of blocks up gunshots and then you realize that you are a part of this. A war is going on around you.” As we can see by the testimonies gathered by ethnography, we can say that the peculiar form, in which the conflict was address by the reporters, was one that demanded a peculiar form of journalism. Not only were they reporting the incidents, they lived close at hand in many ways living in the conflict. The demands of digital journalism, the need to inform in real time procured a type of journalists that is not only unique but it was the one needed mechanism in which information became accessible.

Audience Participation

We have now covered the experience of the reporters, we will now go on to describe how the news given by this type of journalism gave way to a unique form of audience involvement. In order to do so, we will take for example the transcription of several social media comments and apply content analysis to understand the meaning that individuals gave to the conflict and the violent acts. As mentioned earlier one of the peculiarities of digital journalism or new sites is that in that the reporters were updating the news on a real-time basis. This meant that very little time transited between the incident and the news report upload. When I spoke to people about how they got informed about the incidents that occurred in the city, a common replied was; “when we hear the police sirens or gunshots we commonly let ten maybe fifteen minutes tops and go online and enter to any digital news site and check what just happened. We realized sometimes that maybe the groceries store where you commonly go to get robbed, or that a few streets from where you live someone got killed, or even the bar where you go to on the weekends some guy walked in and began to shoot people, you know things like that” Another person said “one time a heard in the middle of the night gunshots, ten minutes in the shootout no police sirens were heard, about an hour later when the shoots ended I was updating constantly the local news websites for the last twenty minutes until the news got uploaded; just about seven or eight streets near my house several men with guns got killed, it was very impressive, I mean in the picture I could see in the background the bus stop where every day I wait for the bus to go to school. That morning I could still see the dry blood stains on the pavement. It was very impressive if that occurred a few hours later I could be at that bus stop you know, that sort of things gets you thinking; it messes your head. You get scared but what can you do, you can’t hide under you bed right” When it comes to social media things get interesting given that continuity plays an important part. Next are the conversations and comments made on a news report that states that a man got killed in the parking lot in a supermarket near one of the freeways that encircle the city: 335 Smoking Gun: Jaquez

Participant 1: this is going out of hand a few minutes early I went to buy milk there. Thank god there were no lines in the cashier. You can’t go and boy milk now without knowing if you are going to see something. Commentator 1: that happened to me last week. I went to buy stuff at the grocery store. I heard a loud sound when I was in the fruit section, then they became louder, that is when I knew that they were gunshots. Commentator 2: the SUV in the picture matches the decryption that started the police search early this morning. Maybe it was the same man does people earlier. Commentator 3: yeah that’s the same thing, I got stuck in traffic because of that search. Commentator 4: well know his dead…you can’t go on the street anymore.

These comments are referred to a news report that mentions the killing of a family outside their house. Participant 1 : These guys are animals. What are the authorities doing about this? Commentator 1 : I am afraid of going out. A couple years back you could walk in the park at night, go to dinner or a club in the weekend but know, not even outside your house is safe. Commentator 2 : I think a friend of mine has his kids in the same school as they did. The uniforms look similar. Commentator 3 : When will this stop. The city looks like a ghost town past dark. People are afraid of even going to the movies. Commentator 4 : The car that parked next to mine was shot in the parking lot at the mall the other day that I went to the movies. Apparently, the driver hid under the car and didn’t get shot but... man just to imagine that I could have been there. Commentator 5 : Last night some guys got killed outside my house. The blood is in literally at our doorstep. Commentator 6 : I told my daughter to come straight home after school. Parents do the same. God bless. Commentator 7 : Has anybody not seen or heard something violent. I don’t think someone is exempt of this mess.

These comments are referred to a news report that mentions the killing of several people in a bar downtown. Participant 1 : No way… I was going to have a beer that day in that bar. Thank god I didn’t. Commentator 2 : I live a few blocks down the street of that bar. That was messed up…the shots were so loud I thought they were outdoor. Commentator 3 : I live near that place. My brother I and had to throw ourselves on the floor. They were so loud the door shook. Participant 2 : What about the windows did they shook as well? Commentator 3 : I wasn‘t going to stick my head up to find out… Commentator 4 : I suck‘s to be afraid in your own house.

336 Media Watch 8 (3)

As we can see in these conversations, we can tell that the violence brought by the conflict is perceived by these individuals as in an immediate proximity. In some way or another people have been a witness of the violence or live a constant state of fear. There is a sense of risk. As we see the through the content of the conversations we can say that there is a constant thread that set everything together. People speak in and about their fears. The fears of not coming home after a daily routine, the fear of not doing the things that are given for granted like going out to buy milk or to park the car, fear of opening the door or to relax on a weekend. The way that individuals used digital news sites offered a well-needed escape valve that released pressure in a society that lived at risk.

Conclusion

The places or scenarios in which people carry on their daily lives have been transforming into crime scenes and former battle grounds of a proxy war that blurs the line between the confronting sides. The relation between the conceptual framework and the empirical data has been stated. A reality has been described in a context in which society finds itself in a struggle. To conceptualize is to speak of what is being seen or known. We now know of the consequence of seeing and perceiving violence. Violence gave into fear and eventually, individuals were in a society that felt at risk of being stripped of their granted lifestyle. When an individual is more familiarized with the social environment in which he lives and socializes, he knows, conceives analyses and ponders the many risks of the many social relations that he is going to initiate. However, individuals in modern societies are presently learning a harsh and difficult lesson; new forms of networks are being crafted, no longer is the promise of modernity presents in the mindset of present day society. The once called forms of new communication are now becoming the only place of refuge where opinions, ideas, thoughts and meaning can be shared. This has been more evident, in a society that struggles to find its bearings and has felt at first hand the invisible hand that holds the smoking gun.

References

Albers, P. C. (1993). Symbiosis, merger, and war: contrasting forms of intertribal relationship among historic Plains Indians. The Political Economy of North American Indians, 94-132. Altheide, D. L. (2002).Creating fear: News and the construction of crisis.Transaction Publishers. Atkinson, J. Maxwell, & Heritage, John. (Eds . ) . (1984). Structures of social action: Studies in conversation analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Beck, Ulrich. (1998). La SociedaddelRiesgo. Haciaunanuevamodernidad. Buenos Aires, Argentina. Padios. Brubaker, R., &Laitin, D. D. (1998).Ethnic and nationalist violence.Annual Review of sociology, 24(1), 423-452. Castells, M. (2016).¿Comunidadesvirtuales o sociedad red? Cohen, S. (2002). Folk devils and moral panics: The creation of the mods and rockers. Psychology Press. Conklin, Harold(1975) Etnografìa in Lobera J.R (comp) La antropologíacomociencia. Anagrama, Barcelona.

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Galindo, L. (1998). Cibercultura, ciberciudad, cibersociedadhacia la construcción de mundosposiblesennuevasmetáforasconceptualesEnEstudiossobre las CulturasContemporáneas, junio, año/vol. IV, número 007 México: Universidad de Colima. Garland, D. (2001). The culture of control (Vol. 367). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hine, C. (2000). Etnografía virtual.Editorial UOC. Krippendorff, K. (2004). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. Sage. Lupton, D. (1999) Risk, Routledge: London. Riches, D. (1986). ThePhenomenon of Violence.—Riches D.(ed.) TheAnthropology of Violence. Santana, Lourdes y Denis Borobia (1996).La InvestigaciónEtnográfica: Experiencias de suaplicaciónen el ámbitoeducativo.En revista Paradigma VOL. XIV al XVII, 1993 – 1996 Stanko, E. A. (Ed.). (2005). The meanings of violence. Routledge. Spears, R., & Lea, M. (1994).Panacea or panopticon?The hidden power in computer- mediated communication.Communication Research, 21(4), 427-459. Spradley, J. P. (2016). The ethnographic interview. Waveland Press. Spradley, J. P. (2016). Participant observation. Waveland Press. Tudor, A. (2003). A (macro) sociology of fear? The Sociological Review, 51(2), 238-256. Witte, K., & Allen, M. (2000). A meta-analysis of fear appeals: Implications for effective public health campaigns. Health education & behavior, 27(5), 591-615. Woolgar, S. (1996).Technologies as cultural artifacts. In W. H.Dutton (Ed.), Information and communications technologies: visions and realities (pp.+87–101). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Jacob Cordoba Jaquez is a professor in the bachelor and graduate programme in social anthropology at the School of Anthropology and History of Northern Mexico. He has worked in various areas such as technology and social change, video game online communities and relations and social media analysis. 338 © Media Watch 8 (3) 339-354, 2017 ISSN 0976-0911 e-ISSN 2249-8818 DOI: 10.15655/mw/2017/v8i3/49147

Perception of the Young Adults towards the Portrayal of Women in Contemporary Indian Television Advertisements

MADHUSMITA DAS & SANGEETA SHARMA Birla Institute of Technology & Science, India

The purpose of this article was to examine the perception of the audience regarding the portrayal of women in Indian TV advertisements and the perception difference among them on the basis of their gender. 125 young adults comprising of 63 males and 62 females were selected randomly as the sample for the study. Primary data was collected through the survey method with the help of structured questionnaire. The study explored that majority of the respondents agreed that women in Indian TV advertisements are mostly depicted as young and beautiful, and rarely shown enjoying equal status with men and as professionals. They were not feeling much uncomfortable towards the sexual portrayal of women in advertisements. The study further revealed that gender has a great influence on the perception of the audience regarding the portrayal of women in Indian TV advertisements. Female in comparison to male were found to be more critical about the portrayal of women in Indian TV advertisements.

Keywords: TV advertisements, portrayal of women, perception, young adult, gender

Advertisement is the most powerful means of social communication. It has the power to control the market by creating varied personal needs, changing approaches, self image and preferences. It is omnipresent and because of its persuasive nature, it can’t be ignored. We come across them from the time we tune to the morning weather forecast, until we relax with television or a magazine at the end of the day (Wright & Warner, 1966, p. 4). Advertisers are criticized for injecting certain problems in minds of the people and then provide their solution to them. As advertisement has both positive and negative impact on the society in its various forms, its role in the society is fiercely a debated topic. “It articulates meaning to the words and images, though it depends on how we interpret them” (Asemah, Edegoh & Ojih, 2013).

Gender Representation in Advertisement

Gender Role

Through the ages across the countries men are considered as breadwinners, decision makers, career-focused and independent, whereas women are made responsible for the well being of their families linked in to their roles as loving wife, caring mother and low-

Correspondence to: Madhusmita Das, Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), BITS Library, BITS Pilani (Hyderabad Campus), Jawahar Nagar, Shameerpet Mandal, Hyderabad-500 078, India. E-mail: [email protected] 339 Television Advertisement: Das & Sharma positioned worker, undertaking the bulk of house hold work (Walby, cited in Dominelli, 2007, p.29). This difference between the man and woman generates common gender role stereotypes. Situations have changed with time. Both Feminist movement and women’s liberation movement have a deep impact in changing the role and status of women in the society. The boundaries of the gender division of labor between the productive and reproductive roles are narrowed down as women have started entering in to the formerly male dominated areas of work (Pandya, 2008, p.61). But despite the changes while discussing the perspective of cultural dualism, Whyte and Whyte (cited in Mishra, 1999, p. 9) said that it is very difficult for women to manifest, their autonomous individuality and their feminine destiny at the same time. The conventional thinking still persist -role of men and women are definite as the bread earner and as the home maker respectively.

Advertisements and Gender

Gender representations in advertising reflect “fundamental features of the social structure,” such as values, beliefs, or norms (Goffman, 1979, p. 8). Though gender roles are getting refined and narrowed over the years, advertisers often use traditional gender stereotypes in their commercials based on the hypothesis that as people are well acquainted with such type of images, it helps the perspective customers to understand the content of the message without any doubt. The study conducted by Bardwick and Schumann (1967), on gender role portrayals in television advertisements finds that women (compared to men) appeared more often as home bound and as housewives in television advertisements. This study was followed by several other studies on the same issue. Matlin (1987) explores that women’s bodies are used differently from men’s bodies in advertisements. Gender representation in advertisements highlights a prominent dichotomy of action vs. appearance or active male vs. passive female, hence exhibits a definite gender display in advertisements. (Shields & Heinecken, 2002, p.46).

Portrayal of Women in Advertisements

Traditionally, the roles of wife and mother have been seen as a woman’s destiny and her only career choice. Accordingly advertisements represent the women in the same way, either as ideal housewife or as the object of desire. Women were mostly shown in home settings and for household products and projected as sex objects, as physically beautiful and dependent on men (Bardwick & Schumann, 1967; Venkatesan & Losco, 1975) in TV commercials. With the passage of time, several factors like globalization, growing market economy, increasing participation of women in higher education and their subsequent involvement in labor force, the equal rights amendments led to the transformation not only in role but also in the status of women in the society. Accordingly the new genre of advertising metamorphosed the image of women. Women started their entry with multiple roles in advertisements. But Zotos and Lysonski (1994) note that though there is a decrease in the representation of women in household roles and in roles of dependency, but there has been an increase in decorative roles and less portrayal of women as professionals, in advertisements. Women’s presence in advertisements has no substantial relation to the product and increasingly woman’s role is becoming more sexy and alluring. Women are typically portrayed as decorative objects (Plakoyinnaki & Zotos, 2009), in traditional role of a mother/ wife in advertisements which do not represent women’s diversity (Rajagopal & Gales, 2002). 340 Media Watch 8 (3)

Milner and Higgs (2004) explore in Australian television advertisements women are mostly portrayed in a stereotypical way, which are far from the actual experiences of women. Parallel results are also found from the studies on TV advertisements of New Zealand (Furnham & Farragher, 2000), Poland (Furnham & Saar, 2005), Korea (Kim & Lowry, 2005), Bulgaria (Ibroscheva, 2007), Pakistan (Ali & Shahwar, 2011), South Africa (Holtzhausen et al., 2011) and U.S. (Morris & Nichols, 2013). According to most of the studies, globally women in advertisements are represented in stereotypical roles. Though a number of studies have already been conducted on depiction of women in advertisements most of them are in western context. Das (2000) have found that representation of women in Indian and other Asian nation’s advertisements differ from those of the western advertisements because of the cultural values, beliefs and norms, and religions. Asian television advertisements show more gender stereotype (Neto & Pinto, 1998) in comparison to the European advertisements (Furnham & Mak, 1999). Thus it will not be fair to generalize the results. In Indian background the number of the studies on this topic is few and further most of the studies in Indian context have limited scope. Majority of them are targeted towards the Indian print advertisements. Again a very few of them examine the response of the audience about the issue. Though advertisements are blamed for reinforcing stereotypical norms in the society, however, the flip side is, its main aim is to lure the customer. So they need to know the perception of the audience regarding different segments of advertisements. Perception is a process of acquiring and processing information (Dwivedy, Patnaik, & Sur 2009a). Aruna, Kotwal and Sahni (2008) examine the perception of the adolescence on advertisements as general. Dwivedy et al. (2009a) try to explore perception difference of the younger group on the basis of their gender on magazine advertisements. Sukumar (2014) and Nagi (2013) have worked on the general perception of the audience about the advertisements. Researchers have already proved that (Lundstrom & Sciglimpaglia, 1977; Aruna et al., 2008; Dwivedy, et al., 2009; Chisholm, 2014) gender has a moderating effect on the perception of the audience. So the present study hopes to fill this gap in the literature by exploring not only the general perception of the audience regarding the presentation of women in Indian TV ads but also the perception difference among them on the basis of their gender. Out of the different medium of advertisements, television advertisement has a very powerful impact with wide coverage. According to Wells, Burnett, and Moriarty (2003), in comparison to the other media, television has three key advantages: as its influence on consumer’s test and perception is pervasive; it has a wide reach in a cost effective manner; and, it creates a strong impact through the careful blend of verbal and visual components (p. 280). This article mainly focuses on the television advertisements. Because of the unavailability of enough literature regarding the portrayal of women in Indian TV ads, literature on the portrayal of women on print ads (Indian context) are also discussed in the study to have a clear picture.

Findings in Indian Context

India has been a traditionally conservative patriarchal society (Hofstede, 1980), where a woman’s image has been molded by years of male dominance and female-subservience (Adhikari, 2014). During 1970s women in the advertisements represented what society, especially the men of society hold as the ideal image for a woman, a perfect homemaker, whose role is limited to housewife, dependent on man, with lesser purchasing capacity, and rarely as professional (Gupta, 2012; Yakkaldevi, 2014). She was often portrayed as sex object, without any identity (Gupta, 2012, p.101). 341 Television Advertisement: Das & Sharma

After globalization, though Indians are becoming modernized and embracing the western values, the image of the self -sacrificing husband worshipper Indian women has changed, they still hold on to some of their traditions (Overgaard, 2010). Thus Wolf (2002) claims that, gender equality is seen in India not in individual-centered but in family- centered ways. Being a mere reflection of the society, advertisers are influenced to portray women in the same way; thus fail to depict the new developments that evolve in gender roles at verge of globalization. Munshi (1998) examines the way Indian housewives are portrayed in Indian television advertisements during 1990s and finds that though the portrayal of women had changed slightly over the years the representation of the Indian woman has not been changed in a substantial way. The result of the study conducted by Das (2000) finds that though over the period the portrayals of men and women have changed, they still are portrayed in stereotypical ways. Although some stereotypical depictions i.e., housewives, concerned with looks, are decreased in the nineties, portrayal of women as sex objects increased. Dang and Vohra (2005) note that women compared to men appear more often for household products and personal or beauty products and seldom as being employed. Schaffter (2006) analyzed 200 Indian TV advertisements over a 12-year period from 1994 to 2005 and reveals the similar trend as that of Dang and Vohra (2005). She further adds that in India, advertisers often treat women with disdain and portraying them as if they have been created only to attend to man’s comforts. Dwivedy, Patnaik, and Sur (2009b) explore that in contemporary magazine advertisements women are primarily portrayed as concerned with physical attractiveness, housewives and sex objects. Studies conducted by Das (2011), Sukumar (2014) and Shyma and Shivani (2015) reveal that though advertisements portrayed women as independent; they still are portrayed mostly as fashionable, glamorous, decorative and sexual objects, and rarely as career oriented. Yakkaldevi (2014) mentions that the portrayal of women in Indian advertisements seems to have worsened over time and it often fluctuates between the two extremes: the “mother India” and the “glamour girl” image. The above studies have proved that the portrayal of women in advertising has not changed to reflect the evolving role of women in the society. However, contrary results are also found from the studies (Fathima, 2013; Nagi, 2014; Menon, Punkambekar, & Bhatia, 2015) that in most of the contemporary advertisements women are depicted as confident, dominant and independent. Their role portrayal is becoming healthier over the years.

Objectives

Keeping the above review of the literature in mind, the present study tries to find out the perception of the audience regarding the portrayal of women in Indian TV advertisements. Sub-objectives that are derived from the primary objective are:

(i) To find out the general perception of respondents regarding the portrayal of women in Indian TV ads, and (ii) To find out the perception difference between male and female respondents regarding the portrayal of women in Indian TV advertisements Hypothesis

Ho : Gender has no impact on the perception of the audience regarding the portrayal of women in television advertisements 342 Media Watch 8 (3)

Methodology

The study tried to explore the perception of the audience regarding the portrayal of women in Indian TV advertisements. One -hundred twenty five young adults comprising of sixty- three males and sixty-two females were selected from the students of BITS Pilani, Pilani campus through the random sampling for the study. All the participants were within the age group of 18 to 29 years of age. They comprised of students pursuing their graduation and post-graduation studies (B.E/M.E/MSc/PhD).Youth has been observed as trendsetters, early adopters, literate, more positive, idealistic, and multicultural, and usually care for practical ads that sell a life style instead of just a product (Macieijewski, 2004). The Institute was selected purposively, as it is one of the top ranking private engineering institutes of India (Outlook, 4th July, 2016; India Today, 21st May, 2016). It is purely a residential institute and 90 per cent of its population is from outside Pilani, representing different parts of India, thus comprising a heterogeneous group. (Das & Sharma, 2016). Primary data for the study was collected through the structured questionnaire during September- October, 2016. One hundred seventy questionnaires were distributed in both the girls and boys hostels in every alternative rooms of which 145 questionnaire were returned and 125 were found to be accepted for evaluation. Responses were recorded through the five point Likert scale (strongly disagree=1 to strongly agree=5). The questionnaire is adopted from the study conducted by Lundstrom and Donald Sciglimpaglia (1977). Construct validity had been checked to ascertain the appropriateness of the questionnaire. The Alpha reliability of the questionnaire was .717, which can be considered as enough for the instrument to be used for the study. According to Hair, Black, Badin, Anderson and Tatham (2007), the value of .60 to .70 is considered as the lower limit of acceptability (p.126). The questionnaire had two parts, the first part comprised of the questions related to demographic profiles of the respondents’ and the second part had eighteen items describing the information related to depiction of women in contemporary Indian TV advertisements. All the questions were close ended questions. The face validity of the questionnaire had been checked by four experts, to examine whether questions that are formed are directed towards achieving the objective of the study or not (Kumar, 2005, p.154). Their suggestions were incorporated and some phrases were deleted that may create confusion for the respondents. Exploratory Factor analysis was used to construct the factors. The determinant of the co-relation matrix was .004 which indicates all the statements were correlated fairly well and the correlation coefficient was fairly large and there was no need to eliminate any questions. The KMO measure was .627 and the Bartlett’s test was highly significant (P <0.001). Factor analysis with Varimax Rotation for Eigen values greater than 1 resulted in four factors, i.e. decorative role, freewheeler, family role and working role with the alpha reliability of .776, .847, .682 and .607, respectively. The communalities of the factors and the factor loadings are given in the Table 1. Together, the four factors explained 51.14 per cent of the total variance. Though the minimally accepted value for factor loadings is ± .30 to ± .40 (Hair, et al., 2007, p. 153), one of the items i.e. “Ads seldom show women in executive position rather show in subordinate position (clerk, PA) in comparison to men (item-5)” with the factor loading .280 was accepted by the study as it was one of the important items of the study.

343 Television Advertisement: Das & Sharma

Table 1. Factor Analysis of the perception of the audience regarding the portrayal of women in advertisements with their factor loadings

344 Media Watch 8 (3)

The role portrayal pattern for the study was adapted from the Erving Goffman’s theory of gender stereotype and from the various studies (sources are described in Table 2). As there are very few studies on portrayal of women in advertisements in Indian context, studies from outside that have looked into the same are consulted to identify the categories for the present study. Some modifications were made to fit the Indian context. Table 2. Operational definition of the factors with their sources

345 Television Advertisement: Das & Sharma Result and Analysis

Objective 1: To find out the general perception of respondents regarding the portrayal of women in TV ads (item wise)

To find out the general perception of the respondents item wise mean was calculated. SPSS had been used for various statistical data analysis. The calculated mean value for each item (Table 3) implies that majority of the respondent were agreed to the item no. three and eleven, where as they were partially agreed with the item no. seven, nine, ten, twelve, sixteen, seventeen and eighteen. The data further explores that majority of the respondents partially disagreed with the item no. one, two, four, five, six, eight, thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen.

Table 3. Perception of the respondents regarding the portrayal of women in Indian TV advertisements (item wise)

Objective 2: To find out the differences in perception between the male and female respondents regarding the portrayal of women in Indian TV advertisements

Ho : Gender has no impact on the perception of the audience regarding the portrayal of women in Indian television advertisements.

346 Media Watch 8 (3)

To find out the perception difference between the male and female respondents an independent sample t-test is used between the gender of the respondents and their perception regarding different roles portrayed by women (decorative role, freewheeler, family role and working role) in Indian TV advertisements (Table 4). Effect size is calculated by measuring Cohen’s d to measure the magnitude of the influence of the independent variable gender. According to Cohen (1988) d= 0.2: small effect, d= 0.5: medium effect and d= .0.8: large effect.

Table 4. Impact of gender on the perception regarding the portrayal of women in advertisements (independent t-test)

P .05

The result of the independent sample t- test (Table 4) indicates a significant difference in score between the perception of male and female respondents regarding different role portrayal of women in Indian TV advertisements such as; Decorative role t (123)=-3.569, p=0.001, with female perception (M= 22.016, SD=4.174) scoring higher than male perception (M=19.095, SD =4.937); Freewheeler, t (123) =-3.851, p=0.000, with female perception (M=9.306, SD=2.922) scoring higher than male perception (M=7.285, SD=2.942); Family role, t (123)=3.044, p=0.003, with female perception (M=16.274, SD=2.909) scoring higher than male perception (M=14.539, SD=3.4352); and Working role, t (123)= -10.527, p=0.000, female perception (M=11.596, SD=2.221) scoring higher than male perception (M=7.555, SD=2.221). The value of the effect size are 0.638 (medium), 0.689 (medium), 0.545 (medium) and 1.882 (Large) for decorative role, freewheeler, family role and working role respectively. This indicates that the magnitude of the variance created by gender on the perception of the audience regarding the portrayal of women is more in working role and less in family role in comparison to the other role portrayal. Thus the null hypothesis that gender has no influence on the perception of the respondents regarding the portrayal of women in advertisements is rejected.

Discussion

In the present study though most of the respondents agreed that ads mostly show women as young and beautiful and rarely depict them as professionals; at the same time they disagreed that women are rarely portrayed as independent decision maker, seldom enjoying equal status with men and represent the high value products in advertisements. In addition to these, the study finds an interesting fact that the respondents were not feeling that uncomfortable to watch the portrayal of women as sex object in advertisements and they partially preferred the portrayal of normal looking women instead of extremely beautiful model with scantily clad dress in ads. According to the developmental model of Erikson young adults (18-29 years) are more interested towards developing relationships with an intimate partner, or series of partners and in making casual sex than making the 347 Television Advertisement: Das & Sharma commitments (Hewstone, Fincham & Foster, 2005). Zimmerman and Dahlberg (2008) find the similar trend that the younger generation is less offended by the portrayal of women as sex objects in advertisements in comparison to previous generations. As today’s generation is constantly exposed to the sexual images of women, it now becomes very common for them. Younger women consider sexuality as their power (Wolf, 2002), so it is quite obvious that they find these advertisements as culturally acceptable. According to Aurana et al., (2008) adolescent boys and girls have the tendency to identify themselves with the TV characters and are attracted by the fashionable and glamorous images. The study of Das and Sharma (2016) also finds the similar trend that majority of the respondents follow the models in ads as their role model.

Impact of Gender on the Perception of the Respondents

Chisholm (2014) finds not only advertisements depict men and women differently, but men and women also receive and evaluate the information of the advertisements from different perspectives (p. 89). Men respond positively to the male imagery and women respond positively towards women imagery (p. 89). The survey among the respondents in the present study explores the similar result that gender of the respondents has greatly influenced their perception. Females are found to be more critical than males regarding different role portrayal of women in Indian TV advertisements.

Decorative Role

The study finds females more than males agreed that women in Indian TV advertisement are mostly portrayed in Decorative role and 64% variance was explained by gender. Similar results are found from the studies conducted by Lundstorm and Sciglimpaglia in USA (1977), Sukumar in India (2013), Daechun in Koria (2013) and Archana and Joshi in India (2015) that women in comparison to men have more critical attitude towards their portrayal as decorative object. As the biological and psychological need of man and women are different (Grazer & Keesling, 1995); they are attracted more towards the opposite sex, sexual images than to the same sex images (Reichert, Heckler & Jackson, 2001). When men like appeals using sexy woman; women are tensed seeing such image (Rechiert & Lambiase, 1999). This may be the reason that in the present study female more than male are found to be more conscious about the representation of women in decorative role in Indian TV advertisements. This finding is consistent with findings of Aruna, et al. (2008) where boys more than girls wanted women to be shown as fashionable and glamorous in TV advertisements. Therefore, sexual portrayal of women in advertisements produce two conflicting result, i.e. attracting man’s attention and offending women generally (Taflinger, 1996).

Freewheeler

The survey result reveals that females in comparison to males perceived that women in Indian TV advertisements are rarely portrayed as Freewheeler with independent identity, in dominant /superior position than man or enjoying equal status with man. The study explored 69 per cent of the variance was explained by gender. As the working status of women has been gradually improved in the society, the contemporary women prefer to see the depiction of women in ads as liberated, independent, and confident (Aurna et al., 2008), where as the men in the society have a different perspective, they prefer the portrayal 348 Media Watch 8 (3) of women in traditional role ( Dwivedy, et al., 2009a). In a patriarchal society like India the power distance is fairly high in comparison to the western countries. Here the authoritative/ dominant role portrayal of women in comparison to men can’t be recognized easily (Dwivedy, et al., 2009b).

Family Role

The present study finds females in comparison to males are found to be more critical about the portrayal of women in Family role in Indian TV advertisements. The variance explained by the gender is found to be 54 per cent. Chisholm (2014) notes that men and women because of their cognitive strength, receive, react and perceive the advertising message from different perspective. The studies conducted by Dwivedy et. al. (2009a) and Archana and Joshi (2015) find men in comparison to women prefer mostly the traditional portrayal of women i.e. as mothers, housewives in Indian TV advertisements. India has a patriarchal society and Indians irrespective of their status and educational qualification; they use to give much importance to their family and want to see the women of their family as the perfect homemaker. Even most of the Indian women still have faith on their old customs and traditions (Hofstede, 1980). The role of mother, wife and sister are the integral part of our society, they can’t be changed. Thus the variance explained by gender to this role portrayal is less in comparison to other role portrayals under the study. Advertisers use this traditional gender stereotypes in their commercial with an assumption that they are well known to everybody. Thus it is quite convincing when Munshi (1998) explored that though the Indian women are portrayed as liberated still they are traditional.

Working Role

Female more than male were found to be more conscious about the rare representation of women as professionals or career oriented. The variance created by gender on the perception was large. The earlier studies (Munshi, 1998; Dwivedy et al,. 2009b; & Das, 2011) also support the trend that women are rarely portrayed as working in Indian advertisements. Even if they were shown as professionals, again it is rare to see them in executive role or authoritative role. When she is shown as the doctor her patients are her family members (Trivedi, 2014). Goffman (1979) termed it as Function ranking. In a male dominated society a girl whether to opt for a professional life mostly depend on the decision of the head male member of the family and for a married one the decision of the husband is must. Indian woman is regarded as the true ‘Ardhangini’ to her husband, who is mostly not encouraged to step out of the house, to take up paid jobs, to assert their independence apart of her husband (Channa, 2007, pp. 37-44). Advertisers are following this pattern only. They don’t want to dissatisfy their male consumers in a male dominated society. Thus women in advertisements represent what the society, especially the men of the society, holds as the ideal image for a woman (Aurna, et al., 2008). This may be the reason that in current study majority of female respondents in comparison to male believed that women are rarely depicted in working role in advertisements.

Implication of the Study

Young adults are the future customers. Their perceptions can’t be ignored. The result of the study would help the advertising agency to know how the young adults evaluate the depiction 349 Television Advertisement: Das & Sharma of women in Indian TV advertisements and the perception difference among them on the basis of their gender regarding the same. Secondly in comparison to male, female respondents are found to be more critical about the role depicted by women in Indian TV ads. The independent women of today prefer to see women in advertisements as confident, independent and career focused (Aurna et al., 2008) rather as decorative objects. The stereotypical portrayal of women in ads not only adversely affects the brand image but also has the carryover the effect on buying behavior of the consumers (Ford, Voli & Clark, 2004). In addition now-a-days female consumers emerge as an important market segment with increasing buying power. Therefore, the advertising industries should be careful while depicting women in advertisements, to get the support of the female market segment in India. Thirdly, the respondents partially preferred the portal of normal looking women as models in advertisements, which implies that the younger generations are quite influenced by the exaggerated beautiful models of the advertisements. Studies (Mask & Blanchard, 2011) have proved that the constant exposure to these models foster upward comparison and leads to depression, low -confidence and body image disturbances. According to McLuhan the main problem is the message, how we are decoding the media message. Thus the study could also be used as a base for the educators, to develop and implement the media literacy programme at the grass root level, which can help the audience to critically evaluate the media message before accepting them.

Conclusion

The way women are portrayed in advertisements reflects the basic social structure of the society. The result of the study highlighted that in Indian TV advertisements women are mostly depicted as decorative objects and rarely in professional roles. Females in comparison to males were found to have more critical attitude towards the different role portrayal of women in advertisements. The variance (created by gender) was large in perception regarding the portrayal of women in working role; which indicates that majority of the male respondents are not keen to see women as independent. In a patriarchal society like India, men irrespective of their level of education prefer to see the women of their families primarily as ideal homemakers who can be caring mothers, loving wives and adoring sisters, but constantly in need of men’s support. The portrayal of women in advertisements mainly based on the gender role norms of the Indian society. Most of the women still have firm belief on their culture. Their depiction as mother and wives in advertisements can’t be avoided as they are the vital part of our tradition; but improper portrayal of women as decorative objects is deplorable as they demean the self respect of the women in the society. But surprisingly the study found majority of the young adults are not feeling that uncomfortable to see women in scantily clad dress in advertisements. As today’s generation is raised in a sexualized world and sexual content dominates the media (Zimmerman & Dahlberg, 2008), they consider sexuality as their power (Wolf, 2002). Thus, they have started accepting it as a part of their culture. Women as sex objects in advertisements only attract the immediate attention it would never help to establish long term brand loyalty among the perspective customers. Though the young adults were not feeling much offended for the decorative role portrayal of women, female were found to be more upset than males for the same. Thus the advertisers while designing an advertisement campaign they should keep in mind not only the preference of the diverse target groups but also the frame of mind of the individuals in a country like India where the traditional approach and liberal perception prevail concurrently.

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Future research should address the limitations of the present study. However, the study was conducted on relatively small group of students from one age group. The sample size can be increased including respondents from different age groups for the better generalization of the result. Keeping the present study as the base, the future study can be conducted on the impact of the role portrayal of women in advertisements on the perceived body image of women. Besides these, studies in future can also be conducted on the gender role portrayal not only on Indian TV advertisements but also in other medium of advertisements like print, online and billboard to get a whole picture.

References

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Dr. Madhusmita Das recently finished her Ph.D from Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani, Rajasthan. Her research interest includes advertisements and gender issues.

Dr. Sangeeta Sharma is an associate professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani. Apart from advertising, her areas of interest include: technical communication, linguistics, and business communication. 354 © Media Watch 8 (3) 355-365, 2017 ISSN 0976-0911 e-ISSN 2249-8818 DOI: 10.15655/mw/2017/v8i3/49152

Need for Personal Space: Legalizing Pornography in India

SATYAKI DATTA, RASANANDA PANDA & SAURABH DAS MICA-The School of Ideas, India

India though being the birthplace of the ancient science of sex, it is really a matter of shame that the post British India, considers it a taboo, to talk and discuss it in the public. Like many other ancient scriptures and technologies that were all initiated by India, but are now used and further developed by the western world, India, in this case too only boasts itself of having just invented this, but, with little implications in their modern life. Like the Vedas, Upansihadas, Ayurveda, Yoga, Mathematics, Kamasutra or the science of sex, had also developed in this part of the world first, but, is considered obscene in present day India. What is even more insane is that there are numerous, monuments, buildings of the ancient and medieval history still present in this country, which openly depicts sex in the form of sculptures and paintings, and are popular tourist destinations, but watching the same over electronic media has been labelled illicit.

Keywords: Pornography, Internet, legal, social taboo, sex

Soon after the formation of the sixteenth Lok Sabha, the Government carried out the ‘Swachh Internet Campaign’ a process of keeping an account of all the porn websites followed by asking the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block websites containing adult content pertaining to sex and pornography (Kumar, 2014). According to Ravi Shankar Prasad, the minister of Telecom and IT, of the present government, who has been instrumental in this campaign, had expressed that even though porn is legal in other countries, there is always a moral obligation towards the society from the context of Indian culture for which it needs to be regulated. Indians are among the most productive buyers of web adult content on the planet, and expanding quantities of men and women are streaming it on their cell-phones. The numbers are quite staggering, close to 13 per cent of total global mobile users, who watch adult content is from India, which means 90 lakh out of 7 crore global mobile users who has access to adult content followed by watching it are Indians (Budki, 2012). So, it is quite a herculean job on the part of the campaign to restrict this, overnight, especially to ban millions of porn websites, where most of them are based outside India. As per one evaluation done by the Indian Computer Emergency Response, there are more than 40 million porn websites so far and the greater part of them works outside India, where porn is legitimate (Kumar, 2014) and there are numerous paths to access the blocked websites by proxy settings or even with a cloned Internet protocol address. Plus, there are always the sources of the video parlors which rents off the cassettes and disks of the same, and of which almost none are a recognized and controlled retailed sector.

Correspondence to: Satyaki Datta (former Research Associate-Business Management Area), MICA-The School of Ideas, Shela Village, Ahmedabad-380 058, Gujarat, India. E-mail: [email protected] 355 Legalizing Pornography: Datta et al

These initiatives of banning pornography is probably an outcome of the petition filed by legal counsel Kamlesh Vasvani who had requested the Supreme Court to initiate a complete ban of porn because he argues pornography excites people to commit heinous activities like rape, harassment and molestations of women (Software Freedom Law Centre, 2014). However, such an argument is matter to be established in the court of law and would require much debate. In such a scenario, we have few questions in hand viz, Does Indian culture in the light of present scenario not ready for porn consumption? What is the situation and impact of porn industry in countries where its consumption as well as distribution is legal? Can we legalize this porn industry followed by bringing regulations in its usage? Why should an adult individual or an adult couple of this country play hide and seek, to consume something very natural like foods and toiletries and feel harassed for a “personal space”?

Pornography: Definition

Pornography is defined as “representation of sexual behavior in books, pictures, statues, motion pictures, and other media that is intended to cause sexual excitement” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2016). However, to go by this definition would classify many literary works of all times and from many countries including romantic novels, art, short stories and not the least media products as pornography (Ydersbond, 2012). It is quite absurd and on further investigation it is observed that art productions tend to create some degree of sexual excitement as a knock-on effect, however, they are seldom considered as pornography and more as erotica. The word erotica is usually considered for “works in which the sexual element is regarded as part of the larger aesthetic aspect” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2016). However, in this paper as a major facet while we are discussing the functioning of pornography industry, we observe that the broad literature available in media discourses often use the words ‘pornography’ and ‘erotica’ loosely. Further many discussions and debates revolving around the media economics of pornography industry tend to consider the selling and purchasing erotica products a part of pornography industry. So, while exploring the ramifications of pornography industry, we are considering the characteristics of pornography and erotica to be interwoven into one another and conflated into a single understanding of the one which creates sexual excitement.

Existing Industry Dynamics Worldwide

Sex sells and always will. So, if there is an attempt by the government to ban the purchase of sex it is totally illiberal as banning its sale (The Economist, 2014). Selling sex to human senses in one form or another has been one of the oldest businesses on the planet and it is also one of the fastest changing one (Venkatesh, 2010). Now, with the advancement in new media technologies, this business and the desire to consume it have never been as large as it is in the current age. With the inception of special websites and apps these mediums allow information to flow smoothly between the buyer and seller striking satisfactory deals (The Economist, 2014). In the space of such an era, an item that once was accessible in the back rear ways of enormous urban communities has gone organized mechanical, readily available and straight into the homes, hotels and meeting halls as a potential business force, through easy options of the Internet search engines. But what astounds us the most is that a whopping 40 million Americans visit porn sites regularly and 200,000 Americans are identified as porn addicts (Webroot, 2016). Internationally, porn is a $97 billion industry, as indicated by Kassia Wosick, collaborator teacher of human science at New Mexico State College (Nykaza, 2015). 356 Media Watch 8 (3)

The exact estimate of the extent of the pornographic industry is quite impossible, as no fixed authenticated data could be found for the statistics of this industry. In 1975 the aggregate retail estimation of all the no-nonsense explicit entertainment in the U.S. was evaluated at $5 to $10 million (Amis, 2001). 1979 Update of the Government Criminal Code expressed that “in Los Angeles alone, the erotica business does $100 million a year in gross retail volume” (Wikipedia). Reports collectively point to the fact that global porn purchase was estimated at twenty billion US dollars and half of the purchases were only made in American market with a figure roughly touching ten billion US dollars (Covenant Eyes, 2015). This is as much as they spend on going to watch professional sports, purchasing music or going out to the motion pictures. Today there are well more than 800 million rentals of adult tapes and disks in feature stores all across the United States (Leung, 2003). It is greater than the National Football League, the National Basketball Association games, bottling industry and major league baseball (Harvard Law School). Despite the fact that the exact size of the porn industry in the United States is not quite clear, it unquestionably produces considerable income. At the point when these incomes are brought at par with the enormous accessibility of free porn on the Internet, the extent and effect of erotic entertainment is really stunning. According to Bill Lyon, a former lobbyist for the defense industry, it utilizes the labour force of 12,000 individuals in California whose employment needs gets fulfilled by this industry (Leung, 2003). The tax paid by the industry is also huge, in the state of California alone close to $50 million in duties and taxes are consistently deposited by key players. Further in the same article (Leung, 2003) a rundown list made in 2002 specified that 900 little and huge organizations work in the business. In that year, big cable operators like Comcast has gathered revenues in $100 million from grown-up programming. USA’s biggest cable network administrators, from Time Warner to Cablevision, are in the business of providing sexual content to their interested subscribers. Even respectable hotels like Hilton, Marriot, Hyatt, Sheraton and Occasion Motel offer porn materials on in-room pay-per-view TV systems (Leung, 2003). This service is taken by an incredible 50 per cent of their visitors which accounts to 70 per cent of the in-room profits.

The Reach of Adult Industry

The business capital of porn industry just like mainstream Hollywood is Los Angeles. So far there are thirty-four production houses in Los Angeles alone (Wikipedia). Pornographic organizations like Vivid Entertainment, a movie house with a stature in adult entertainment much similar to that of Paramount or Universal in mainstream motion pictures have offices here. Vivid is one of the world’s largest adult entertainment studios with estimated revenue of $100 million (Pulley, 2005). It is involved in legalized production of porn films, it also self manages its distribution over DVDs and CDs and also directly sells them to cable companies, hotel businesses and also controls its release over the Internet (Vivid Entertainment). The business is huge now. It’s standard. It’s truly the same as what Playboy was 30 years back. Purchases are made at all platforms where selling and distribution has reached. In the global context, Erotic entertainment has helped drive advancement of newest innovations in entertainment business for as long as 25 years. According to a report published in 2014 by Google, Sri Lanka and India have topped the list searching for the word ‘sex’ (Daily Mirror, 2014). For quite a long time, grown-up destinations like porn sites were the main to show profit on the Internet and hence make way for other businesses. Pornography sites have brought traffic which competes against the other popular sites 357 Legalizing Pornography: Datta et al most viewed online, viz. Google and Wikipedia. For example, Xvideos, considered to be the world’s biggest pornography site has a healthy data to speak for. It has 4.4 billion page views with a whopping 350 million unique visits every month (Pyne, 2015). Along with Xvideos, there are several other pornography sites which have spearheaded and served to create various mechanical leaps forward from online payment gateways to web streaming of the movies. Furthermore (Pyne, 2015) argues grown-up materials have discovered some way or another into diverse groups by distinctive means, whether it is by television, or it’s by cable networks, individuals have become progressively agreeable with adult entertainment.

Scenario in Other Countries

In the 1960s, Denmark sanctioned porn. According to an article titled ‘Denmark: Pornography: What is Permitted is Boring’ states that Denmark becomes the first state in modern history to abolish legal sanction against pornography for adults (Time, 1969). Due to this sanction, everything which is needed for the production of such films became legitimate. In most other European countries like Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece and Portugal production of pornography content is barred but purchasing and selling of pornography materials are legal. But most importantly what keeps the general populace sound and safe is the important prerequisites which come along with the legalization of pornography. Minors under the age of 18 are not allowed to be a part of the production and are also barred from purchasing or selling of pornographic materials (Pornography in Europe: Wikipedia, 2016). Again, countries like Germany, Norway, Hungary, Russia and Spain along with distribution they pioneer in producing pornography materials. Turkey is considered to be the first Muslim country to legalize the production of pornographic materials (Pornography in Turkey: Wikipedia, 2016). But then according to the Turkish Penal Code, the country is quite strict regarding child pornography, as the offenders involved in such act would face five to ten years of imprisonment along with hefty fine (Turkish Penal Code, 2004). Porn is legal in France. In Sweden, broadband penetration is very high and fast speeds helps to create enormous wealth for web companies which distribute porn. New Zealand has a sound, lively and dynamic sex industry. It is continually switching to stay aware of the times. In the United Kingdom, erotica as being what is indicated is not unlawful. It gets to be so if and when it qualifies as being indecent as indicated by the Obscene Publications Act 1959. The lawful test of indecency is the ‘corruption and defilement’ measuring stick (Obscene Publications Act, 1959). Some prominent countries in Europe, in which pornography is legitimate are Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Estonia, Finland, France, Latvia, Norway, Sweden etc. Whereas prominent countries from Europe which has not yet legalized it are Belarus, Lithuania, Ukraine, i.e. countries with the erstwhile influence of communism. Similarly, countries still under communism influence like China and Cuba have banned any kind of pornographic elements. Countries in the Middle East and North Africa have also kept it under skepticism of prohibiting the adult content in visual media and over Internet. Further, in countries of Latin America, heavily under the catholic influence, possession of pornography and other literature related to sex is considered unlawful (Wikipedia, 2017) Finally, there are countries which are ambiguous in their opinion like Australia, Iceland, Turkmenistan, Russian Federation, Japan and India (Wikipedia, 2017)

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Scenario in India

In the Indian context, these numbers are astounding too. The viewership trends of one of the popular porn sites Pornhub, observes that New Delhi tops in viewership with a presence of 39.2 per cent of porn traffic (Mohammed, 2016). Further there is a customization in the porn content which is mostly referred in colloquial language as ‘desi’ and there has been an increase of Indian search terms to explore the smut on Internet like “Indian college girls”, “Indian Bhabhi”, and “Indian Aunty” are widely used. Further this report also reveals the pattern of consumption of the Indian users (Mohammed, 2016). So, with the media innovations coming across in our day to day life, bringing a plethora of opportunities to consume pornography, it becomes indispensable to modify the existing laws and regulations shaping the future of the industry. It is also inevitable as a post-colonial nation that the current law controlling the fate of pornography and its actors stems out from the Victorian law especially from Section 292 of Indian Penal Code which was established in 1860.

Current Laws and Regulations in India

In India while consuming pornography there is no offence, however, the law forbids in the production, publication and transmission of pornography materials (Mitta, 2011). Further according to Section 67 of The Information Technology Act 2000, the law of the land states “Whoever publishes or transmits or causes to be published or transmitted in the electronic form, any material which is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest or if its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it, shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years and with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees and in the event of a second or subsequent conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years and also with fine which may extend to two lakh rupees” (The Information Technology Act, 2000). The user can be convicted if there is anything beyond consumption of pornography, so in the innermost possibility of sharing a pornography related material among close friends can lead the user to imprisonment (Section 67 of The Information Technology Act, 2000). In this scenario the user is safe either when the content is accessed through one’s personal device or when downloaded (by proper means of purchase and not pirated), watched only in her/his private space.

Economic Opportunity by Legalization of Pornography

American grown-up amusement industry has developed impressively in the course of recent years by persistently changing and growing to speak to new markets, however the creation is thought to be low-profile and surreptitious. There is a supply plan; there is likewise an interest timetable very much alike to the essential financial model of value determination in a business. The porn content is charged on premium rates because of the huge taboo it is in the society. Furthermore, in light of the fact that you can charge a premium for it, the net revenue is higher. The margins in the business are high henceforth and the profitability is huge for the companies which have vertical integration across the entire stream of business. While a hit porno motion picture can acquire much revenue, grown-up films have a long time span of usability and hence a very long shelf life thus can continue offering for quite a long time after their starting discharge, most entertainers see little of the benefits. 359 Legalizing Pornography: Datta et al

They are from time to time paid residuals, and regularly get just a level expense. The charges differ from $350 to $1,000 for a routine sexual moment to a couple of thousand dollars for more compelling sex (DiVirgilio, 2013). The interest for porn stays solid, because of its generally inelastic nature. Products and administrations have value versatility. An elastic product is one for which there is a substitute decent; for instance, as pen costs climb, the cross versatility of interest would bring about shoppers purchasing more pencils. An inelastic product is one for which there are few or no substitutes, for example, tickets to significant brandishing occasions or unique works by acclaimed craftsmen. As porn costs climb, purchasers would have next to zero substitutes for their self-gratification or love making needs. Generally, as the music business battles with persuading web clients that unlawful record offering and downloading is harming everybody, so to the porn business must persuade purchasers that illicit downloading and web robbery is likewise harming the whole market. As benefits lessening, fewer makers will be eager to use funding to make the merchandise and porn content, prompting diminished supply and a general diminishing in quality. Again, as the same music, in most cases is not soothing to ears, time and again, similarly, the same porn clip might not arouse the same excitement if viewed repeatedly, so there is always scope for newer production. Pornhub, one of the world’s biggest grown-up adult entertainment providing sites, has given access to their information to research agency Quartz, in laying out India’s sexual inclination and porn propensities, pretty much as the administration researches the likelihood of presenting web channels on explicit substance. The information was accumulated between September, 2013 and September, 2014. India, which is most likely to have the second largest number of web clients on the planet very soon, and are fifth currently regarding the most number of day by day guests to the site, says Pornhub (Patel, 2014). Also, India’s first porn cartoon network started around 2008 with the iconic “Savita Bhabhi”, by the Indian Porn Enterprise, which was later christened as Kirtu.com. The initial responses were so high that soon the producers, introduced a whole lot of new series, apart from the main character i.e. Savita Bhabhi and quite naturally have become a premium site, from the erstwhile free network. Further, it has integrated its chief competitor “Velamma”. Altogether, it now runs some seven to eight series of pornographic comics, with purely Indian background and claims to have over 1 lakh viewership daily. It now even accepts partnership and subscription is very nominal and through a valid and safe payment gateway, with all leading cards being accepted. (Deshmukh, 2016) It was under the circumstances, in the year 2012 and later again on 2015, the Government of India attempted to ban Internet pornography which raised many eyebrows and there were innumerable voices of concerns (Deshmukh, 2012). It was found from the Internet Service Providers that a healthy percentage of 30-70 per cent total browsing was on pornography. Further with the growing surge of mobile communications, voice services like Bharti Airtel Ltd. and Reliance Jio were hopeful to deploy higher speed 4G wireless Internet across the country. Interestingly this was backed up by large growth in data revenue where services like Bharti Airtel Ltd. reported a 59 per cent rise in data revenue by earning a whopping amount of 3085 crore Indian rupees (Ghosh, 2015). With 3G data services around, the sheer growth in data revenue and consumption of Internet is pertinent. The average usage per customer grew to 656 megabytes (MBs) along with an increase of data customer base to 46.3 billion. Finally, it has to be kept in mind, that there is altogether a parallel fraternity of film industry, who are involved in the entire operation process of casting, production, post production and distribution, specialized in this sector, thereby feeding a good percentage of the population in the United States and parts of Europe. (Gradus, 2017, NetFlix) 360 Media Watch 8 (3)

Cultural Impacts of Porn Legalization

Grown-up stimulation is so lucrative and productive that it’s ended up a piece of the standard society - promptly accessible, effectively available, and everything except difficult to administer away. The most widely recognized worry about explicit entertainment is that it by implication harms women by empowering sexism, raising sexual desires and subsequently hurting compassionate relationships. Some individuals stress that it may even instigate viciousness against women. However these arguments don’t prove to be true all the time as it has been observed that with the arrival of Internet porn there is a decline in sexual irresponsibility. As discussed in the earlier part of this article, that even in India, a considerable number of porn viewers are women. According to a report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), since 1990 USA’s abortion rate has gone down by 41%. Further with the inception of Internet porn teen sex and rape have declined. Teen birth rate has fallen to 33 per cent and the sexual assault rape has gone down to 44 per cent (Castleman, 2009). In 2007 analysts at the College of Zagreb in Croatia overviewed 650 youthful men about their erotic entertainment purchases and sexual behavioral preferences. As they reported in the files of sexual conduct, the researchers found that clients of standard, nonviolent porn were sexually as normal as non-users (Moyer, 2011). The same strives for different nations: as access to erotic entertainment developed in once prohibitive Japan, China and Denmark in the previous 40 years, assault insights plunged. Inside the U.S., the states with the slightest Web access somewhere around 1980 and 2000—and subsequently the minimum access to Web smut encountered a 53 per cent expansion in assault frequency, while the states with the most get to encountered a 27 per cent drop in the quantity of reported assaults, as per a paper distributed in 2006 by Anthony D’Amato, a law educator at Northwestern College.

Legitimization in India

Despite being a multi-cultural country, this has been the common issue in every part of India and has information from history in almost all the ancient Indian scriptures. It has remained the oldest form of recreation, so, what if the pornography is legalized. It has to be kept in mind that, meeting the sexual desires by reaching out to a sex worker is always not feasible either due to medical concerns attached to the hygiene and infections of the cheaply available sex workers, or due to the high payment demanded by the posh and sophisticated call girls and gigolos. Further, there are cases, when a person has to spend a large part of life in solitude, may be due to job or any other concerns and don’t have a partner. But, sex is like any other normal habits of food, urination or sleep. In such cases, such people gets subjected to the use of some low quality pornographic literature or videos, which in turn might lead to the deterioration of physical or mental health. It is actually in these cases that legalization of porn can be of help. First, the proper habits been reflected in the videos of having proper hygienic sex and sober ways of love making. Second, the videos will be helpful, in avoiding damage to the genitals, under the impact of any rough usage. Third, even if a person is alone, it can help to ignite the excitement and help in ejaculation, by means of masturbation, as semen and other genital fluids needs timely removal from body, for the better health and proper sleep (Herbenick, 2010). Fourth, once it is made legal business, it would require a registration from the administration and hence would be reflected in the revenues of the administration, either in the form registration duty, tax or any other form, as seems suitable by the authority. 361 Legalizing Pornography: Datta et al

Fifth, it would help the cyber police or even the normal cops of the land, to have a better vigil, as all the source of production, sale and distribution of such films will be known. Further, the illegal and piracy can be dominated in a better fashion. Sixth, the same can be used in a broader sense of sex education of pupils in the graduating standards, with of course a bit of censorship. Seventh, the adult movie industry, in the United States, has now started producing ancillary products like sex toys and dolls. Though still not popular in India, with growing stiff competition and work culture, these might well become the source of stress buster for melancholic Indians, without involving any eye of the society, in the safe closet of one’s room. Finally, this entire gamut of enterprise would hopefully lead to better developments in the society and would not actually objectivize women as mere sex elements. But, yes, the legalization should be only up to personal or private viewing or for reasons of medical education and strictly not for viewership into public in auditoriums, parlors or theatres or for minors.

Safety Standards

But, with every good opportunity, come great responsibilities. Erica Lust – producer and director of adult movies, and an avid speaker of the internationally proclaimed TEDEX– Vienna Chapter, talks about the good content in such movies that would arouse sensuality and not spread harshness to women. She even backs that the teenagers can be best taught of sex education only by the interactive videos, and not just on paper and pen, as the whole subject is of physicality and requires demonstration, if not in reality but in virtually. Same are the opinions of adult film cinematographer, veteran Randall and famous porno actress Lisa Ann. (Jones, 2017; NetFlix). There are also serious issues of human trafficking which can happen to young girls, falling prey to the unregistered agencies, which might lead them to flesh trading in the guise of offers of porn acting, or webcam strippers, which have caused the disappearance of several girls in reality, from the society and surrounding. (Salvarez, 2017, NetFlix) These cases should also be taken care of by proper law enforcement.

Conclusion

With the impregnation of broad communications in our day today life, basically the web, reality of porn and the porn business in India can’t be ignored. These are simply few of the famous indigenous porn sites. With access to any site facilitated anyplace on the planet, viewing porn over the web is less demanding than a stroll in the recreation center. Throughout the most recent decade, we have supported the methodology of teaching youngsters and grown-ups alike regarding sex training and encouraged sex education at all levels, however we despise the subject of expressing our needs by substance consumption such as porn. We have rebuked the individual who talks about it, hated the individual who has viewed it, and relaxed in the comfort of refusal to stay aware of our fickle rational soundness. We accuse porn for assaults however never suspected that the genesis of such criminal acts is only the degenerate personalities that have lost their own sense for other reasons, much of which needs to be understood by reflection on our social fabric. The economic losses incurred, opportunity costs wasted, employment options left unfulfilled and taxes not accounted for so far are good reasons for us to reflect on the choices that we have made and for the choices we are on the verge of making as a free market supporting democracy. When reflecting on the choices we have made and further we have to make it becomes indispensable to argue over legalization of porn industry in India. It may sound cliché; 362 Media Watch 8 (3) however, the truth cannot be ignored. But with legalization of porn industry, comes additional regulations too, as with great power comes greater responsibility. Safety of children has to be given much importance followed by implementing stringent laws where freedom of expression is not abused by the cynical. Further to avoid any skepticism among the various social actors involved in the pornography industry including the production house to porn actors, legalization of the pornography industry will make it certain that the system falls in place creating harmony in between the community and the pornography industry. And, as it is said, “it takes only a poison, to kill a poison”, so should be in this case, at least the start should be in this manner.

References

Amis, M. (2001, March 17). A rough trade : The Guardian. Retrieved from The Guardian: http:// www.theguardian.com/books/2001/mar/17/society.martinamis1 Budki, S. (2012, February 16). 90 lakh Indians watch adult content on mobile: News18.com. Retrieved from News18.com: http://www.news18.com/news/india/90-lakh-indians-watch- adult-content-on-mobile-447278.html Castleman, M. (2009, April 27). Does Pornography Cause Social Harm?: Psychology Today. Retrieved June 16, 2016, from Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/all- about-sex/200904/does-pornography-cause-social-harm Covenant Eyes. (2015). Covenanteyes. Retrieved from Pornography Statistics: Covenanteyes: http://www.covenanteyes.com/ Daily Mirror. (2014, December 17). SL tops Google’s ‘sex’ search list again: Daily Mirro. Retrieved from Daily Mirror: http://www.dailymirror.lk/59133/tops-google-s-sex- search-list-again Deshmukh. (2012). Open Letter to the Netizens of India. Retrieved from Kirtu.com: https:// www.kirtu.com/micro-blog/an-open-letter-to-the-netizens-of-india/ Deshmukh. (2016). business. Retrieved from Kirtu.com: https://www.kirtu.com/business/ DiVirgilio, A. (2013, January 12). Money in Pornography: The Richest. Retrieved June 16, 2016, from The Richest: http://www.therichest.com/expensive-lifestyle/money/money-in- pornography-one-of-the-most-misunderstood-industries/ Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2016). Retrieved June 14, 2016, from Encyclopaedia Britannica: http://www.britannica.com/topic/pornography Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2016). Retrieved June 14, 2016, from Encyclopaedia Britannica: http://www.britannica.com/art/erotica Encyclopedia, W. H. (2016). List of pornography laws by country:. Retrieved June 16, 2016, from Project Gutenberg Self-Publishing Press: http://self.gutenberg.org/articles/ list_of_pornography_laws_by_country#cite_note-89 Ghosh, S. (2015, August 5). Industry: Live Mint. Retrieved June 16, 2016, from Live Mint: http://www.livemint.com/Industry/VhuXq3jfADn2CrhK8nJ7pL/Oops-Indian-ISPs- telcos-could-lose-3070-of-data-revenue.html Harvard Law School. (n.d.). Berkman Online Lectures & Discussions: Harvard Law School. Retrieved from Harvard Law School: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/vaw02/mod2- 3.htm Herbenick, D. (2010, August 15). Resons why masturbation is good for yoy. Retrieved from menshealth.com: http://www.menshealth.com/sex-women/4-reasons-why- masturbation-is-good-for-you

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Kumar, M. (2014, November 12). Swachh Internet: Modi Govt To Block Adult Websites: Business Insider, India. Retrieved from Business Insider, India: http://www.businessinsider.in/ Swachh-Internet-Modi-Govt-To-Block-Adult-Websites/articleshow/45119222.cms Leung, R. (2003, November 21). Porn in the USA: CBS News. Retrieved from CBS News: http:// www.cbsnews.com/news/porn-in-the-usa-21-11-2003/ Mitta, M. (2011, May 28). Watching pornography no offence: IPC and IT Act: The Times of India. Retrieved May 15, 2016, from The Times of India: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ india/Watching-pornography-no-offence-IPC-and-IT-Act/articleshow/8613854.cms Mohammed, S. (2016, April 7). Indians love ‘desi’ porn, Delhi tops with 39% traffic: The Economic Times. Retrieved June 15, 2016, from The Economic Times: http:// economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/Indians-love-desi-porn-Delhi- tops-with-39-traffic/articleshow/51725868.cms Moyer, M. W. (2011, July 1). The Sunny Side of Smut: Scientific American. Retrieved June 16, 2016, from Scientific American: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-sunny-side- of-smut/ Nykaza, T. (2015, February 27). Pornography as drug: The Aquinas. Retrieved from The Aquinas: http://aquinas.scranton.edu/2015/02/27/pornography-as-drug/ Obscene Publications Act, 1959. (n.d.). Obscene Publications Act, 1959: legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved June 14, 2016, from legislation.gov.uk: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ ukpga/1959/66/pdfs/ukpga_19590066_en.pdf Patel, A. (2014, November 21). Everything you wanted to know about how India watches porn in one map and five charts: Quartz India. Retrieved June 16, 2016, from Quartz India: http:// qz.com/300478/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-how-india-watches-porn-in- one-map-and-five-charts/ Pornography in Europe: Wikipedia. (2016, April 22). Retrieved June 14, 2016, from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornography_in_Europe#cite_note-7 Pornography in Turkey: Wikipedia. (2016, February 13). Retrieved June 14, 2016, from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornography_in_Turkey#cite_note-tck-1 Pulley, B. (2005, March 7). The Porn King: Forbes. Retrieved from Forbes: http://web.archive.org/ web/20050309040606/http://www.forbes.com/business/2005/03/07/ cz_bp_0307vivid.html Pyne, S. (2015, August 7). This is how porn sites make money: Business Insider India. Retrieved from Business Insider India: http://www.businessinsider.in/This-is-how-porn- sitesmake-money/articleshow/48385361.cms Software Freedom Law Centre. (2014, August 30). Supreme Court directs anti-porn petition to be placed before Cyber Regulations Advisory Committee: Software Freedom Law Centre. Retrieved from Software Freedom Law Centre: http://sflc.in/supreme-court-directs- anti-porn-petition-to-be-placed-before-cyber-regulations-advisory-committee/ The Economist. (2014, August 9). A personal choice: The Economist. Retrieved from The Economist: http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21611063-Internet-making- buying-and-selling-sex-easier-and-safer-governments-should-stop The Economist. (2014, August 9). Prostitution and the Internet: The Economist. Retrieved from The Economist: http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21611074-how-new- technology-shaking-up-oldest-business-more-bang-your-buck The Economist. (2015, September 26). Naked Capitalism: The Economist. Retrieved from The Economist: http://www.economist.com/news/international/21666114-Internet-blew- porn-industrys-business-model-apart-its-response-holds-lessons The Information Technology Act, 2000. (2000, June 9). Retrieved June 15, 2016, from Department of Electronics & Information Technology: http://deity.gov.in/sites/ upload_files/dit/files/downloads/itact2000/itbill2000.pdf 364 Media Watch 8 (3)

TIME. (1969, June 6). Article: TIME. Retrieved from TIME: http://content.time.com/time/ magazine/article/0,9171,941672,00.html Turkish Penal Code. (2004, October 12). Retrieved June 14, 2016, from http://www.ceza- bb.adalet.gov.tr/mevzuat/5237.htm Venkatesh, S. (2010, September 12). Five myths about prostitution: The Washington Post. Retrieved from The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/ 2010/09/10/AR2010091002670.html Vivid Entertainment. (n.d.). database: Vivid Entertainment. Retrieved from Vivid Entertainment: http://datab.us/i/Vivid%20Entertainment Webroot. (2016). Internet pornography by the numbers: Webroot. Retrieved from Webroot: http:/ /www.webroot.com/in/en/home/resources/tips/digital-family-life/Internet- pornography-by-the-numbers Wikipedia. (n.d.). Pornography in Los Angeles, California: Wikipedia. Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Pornography_in_Los_Angeles,_California Wikipedia. (n.d.). Pornography in the United States: Wikipedia. Retrieved from Wikipedia: https:/ /en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornography_in_the_United_States

Satyaki Datta is currently a PhD aspirant in management sciences discipline. He was formerly associated with MICA –The School of Ideas, Ahmedabad as a research associate in the business management area. His academic interest lies in the field of marketing, branding, consumer behavior and social issues. Dr. Rasananda Panda is a professor of Economics at MICA. Ahmedabad. He now holds a career in academics and consultancy of 23 years, serving various esteemed organizations like IIM-Ahmedabad; PDPU, Gandhi Nagar to the Government of Gujarat, India. His academic and research interest are in the domain of macroeconomic policy, political economy and behavioral economics. Saurabh Das is a doctoral student at MICA and currently he is working on populism and communication and electoral politics in Indian state of Gujarat. 365 © Media Watch 8 (3) 366-377, 2017 ISSN 0976-0911 e-ISSN 2249-8818 DOI: 10.15655/mw/2017/v8i3/49154

Bob Dylan: The Prophet of Social Change in the 1960s

STEPHEN BRANDON1, ISAAC MAUPIN2 & MARK GOODMAN3 1, 3Mississippi State University, USA & 2University of Kentucky, USA

The 1960s was a period of social change in countries around the world and in hundreds of cities in the United States. We argue that music played a rhetorical role in bringing a vast array of people together behind a wide range of issues. The music of Bob Dylan unified people together, making Dylan a kind of prophet that put into music the voice of the people involved in the social movements of the 1960s. By considering his music rhetorically, we provide insight into how music played a key role in the social movements of the 1960s.

Keywords: social movement theory, Bob Dylan, music as rhetoric

August 28 of 1963 is an iconic day. From the Lincoln Memorial, Peter, Paul, and Mary sang “The Times They Are A-Changin’” and “Blowin’ In the Wind” to those gathered by the thousands for the March on Washington. The day was marked by Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech. The New York Times coverage of the Civil Rights national march on Washington, D.C. focused on King’s words; the article misspelled the name of an unknown songwriter “Bob Dillion,” who had written songs that had moved the audience that day. In fact, it would be the folksinger Bob Dylan who catalyzed the social upheaval of the 1960s and created a prophetic prolepsis of what could, and would happen to a post World War II “jeremiad” paradigm of social consensus.1 Music was an integral part of the social change and turmoil that defined the 1960s. “Rock and roll and its dances were the opening wedge,” points out Gitlin, “hollowing out the cultural ground beneath the tranquil center.”2 Radio made rock ‘n roll music something youth around the world could share, notes Kaiser. While the Beatles were the craze, explains Kaiser, Bob Dylan was “”the modern master” of music.3 Lynsky calls Dylan the “prophet” for disaffected youth.4 The tenure of music in the 1960s was to create a better world, writes Chenoweth. The goal of the music was to leave the insanity of the real world to create a new reality through the music.5 For example, Maraniss reports soldiers in Vietnam singing the latest music while in the field, from albums of Jefferson Airplane, Buffalo Springfield, Big Brother & the Holding company to the Beatles and the Sgt. Pepper album.6 “For many students, political protest can become the covering activity that conveys a sense of importance, power, exhilaration, and danger, all feeling related to self-affirmation and expression,” explains Gregg.7 The student movement in the U.S. began by wanting to “transform American society inside-out,” said Sale.8 To Windt, protesters in the early 60s accepted “the legitimacy of existing institutions and ask mainly that leaders change particular policies regarding issues dissidents are agitated about.”9 But by 1968, argues Sale, the radicals no longer

Correspondence to: Mark Goodman, Department of Communication, Mississippi State University, PB: PF' MS: 9574, Mississippi State MS 39762. E-mail: [email protected] 366 Media Watch 8 (3) believed that changing the processes was enough because many of them came to believe that only revolution would change the world.10 Kaiser agrees that 1968 was the climatic year: “In 1968 the creativity of rock was pushed over the top by an unprecedented diversity, a cross-cultural exchange that was simultaneously racial, sexual, musical, and multinational.”11 The “grace and civility” that marked demonstrations earlier in the decade ended in 1968, writes Kulansky. He points out how the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Bobby Kennedy, the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, the police response to demonstrators at the Democratic Party National Convention in Chicago, and tanks rolling into Prague were indicators that further change would not come through reform of the system.12 One result of the cultural transformation was a change in rhetoric. Burke called the changes in rhetoric transformational rhetoric. He believed that rhetoric was more than an act of persuasion, but could include other cultural artifacts that convinced people to accept new beliefs.13 Schiappa agrees, “For better or for worse, there was a confluence of changing rhetorical practices, expanding rhetorical theories, and opportunities for rhetorical criticism.” Eventually, the Vietnam War was considered a rhetorical practice, concludes Schiappa.14 Rhetoric had to change, points out Lucas, because “Words became weapons in the cultural conflict that divided America.”15 The language of the new youth ideology was long hair, colorful clothing, causal behavior, the search for fun and excitement, argues Klimke. He continues, “New aesthetics emerging in art, music, film, and fashion joined with hippie ideologies and lifestyles and merged into a new set of symbolic forms, attractive to the young generation in both the East and West.”16 Kutschke and Norton argue that music was an irrefutable link among the elements of cultural change in the 1960s. As they explain, “the stylistic qualities of the music and associated codes of behavior and appearance, in binding the young and alienating adults, formed a rich expressive means of rebellion that rendered political organizations, campaigns and manifesto-led activism irrelevant.”17 Dylan was a leader in these rhetorical processes because his folk-rock style of music “intensified the genre by using words and phrases to create clear images of social and political protest,” explains Comotois. 18 “Musicking often represents those shared beliefs that allow ‘disparate strangers’ to feel they are indeed a band of brothers and sisters, and reinforces those beliefs when much of the world is working to break them down,” write Rosenthal and Flacks.19 Bob Dylan served as a prophet because his songs provided the rhetorical glue that brought together a widely disparate and dispersed movement. Dylan’s music was a rhetorical vision uniting listeners as they emotionally responded to songs and lyrics. We will connect those lyrics that challenged people to participate in social change to the process of social change. Bob Dylan is a case study in the role of a prophet for the avocation of social change. Accordingly, we can formulate the rhetorical role of a prophet as the voice of social movements. Creating any social movement is difficult when the focus is on a single local issue, much less a long and multi-dimensional social movement as occurred in the 1960s, which makes the 1960s an interesting case study for processes of social change and the role of rhetoric in social change processes. The Civil Rights movement carried over into the 1960s from Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka (1954, 347 U.S. 483) and the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955. The increasing role of the U.S. military in the War in Vietnam after Lyndon Johnson became president in 1963 led to demonstrations against the war and against the draft. Plus, there were university demonstrations against the military industrial complex that created the weapons of war. College students demanded a greater role in the administration of universities. There were demonstrations against the Vietnam War, against 367 Bob Dylan: Brandon et al national governments, and about local issues in France, Spain, Mexico, Italy, Poland, Brazil, Great Britain, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Yugoslavia, and Jamaica. To Farik, (2004) “the protesters shared strong rebellious and revolutionary visions and the feeling that profound changes were possible and taking place with the protest movements in other regions of the world.”20 The 1960s were marked by anger over a whole range of issues, argues Fücks. “The Vietnam War, the American civil rights movement, the struggle against the colonial system in Southern Africa, the events in Czechoslovakia and the Chinese counter- revolution either outraged or inspired hundreds of thousands of activists; they fired imaginations and became the basis of action,” Fücks writes.21

Social Movement Theory

Social Movement Theory argues that rhetoric is a key element to understanding the processes of social change because a shared rhetoric leads to shared behaviors and actions, which creates group cohesion and self-identification through group identity. To Swidler rhetoric plays an important role in social movement because a culture’s system of shared language creates understanding among members of the culture. Therefore, changing those meaning is a form of cultural rebellion.22 “The trick for activists is to bridge public discourse and people’s experiential knowledge, integrating them in a coherent frame that supports and sustains collective action,” writes Gamson.23 The demonstrations of the 1960s occurred around the world and on hundreds of college campuses in the United States. Protests against the War in Vietnam and the Civil Rights movement were the focus of many demonstrations. However, local issues often were the catalyst for demonstrations, e.g. against Dow Chemical at University of Wisconsin or tearing down low income housing at Columbia University, or university reform in Paris, or anti-Franco demonstrations in Spain. An emotional connection invoked by shared music or similar musical experiences unified the wide range of demonstrations and protesters. Just an analysis of the demonstrations and events during the 1960s would seem to lead to the conclusion that each demonstration was a case of spontaneous combustion, i.e. that each demonstration occurred because of local conditions. The CIA concluded that there was no international or national organization behind the worldwide demonstrations. The CIA concluded that “restless” youth were motivated by an idealistic dissatisfaction with contemporary politics and social systems.24 Music became the voice for the dissatisfied because music created a context where people came together for collective action. Rosenthal and Flacks contend that “…music accompanies political struggles in much of the recorded and oral history of most of the world’s societies….”25 Music becomes part of self-identification, explain Rosenthal and Flacks, because music unites the self with group identification.26 The rhetoric of social transformation requires poetry, argues Burke, because poetry is not just an “exercise,” but an act that translates “political controversy to high theologic terms....”27 “The range of images that can be used for concretizing the process of transformation is limited only by the imagination and ingenuity of poets,” explains Burke.28 During the 1960s, the poets of the social movements were sometimes the musicians. “In the 1960s, popular culture and social movements merged together to a certain degree,” explains Siegfried. “Music largely defined the emotional character of protest movements while also lowering the entrance threshold for those youth who did not start out politically interested.”29 People who listened to the music of the 1960s and shared in the “emotional character” of

368 Media Watch 8 (3) the music became part of the protest movement because they shared in the empathetic resonance. Empathetic Resonance (Bertelsen , 1996; Lynch, 1998; Adams-Price, 1998; Adams- Price, et al., 2006; Goodman, 2010) theorizes that when audience members share emotions with the performers and with other audience members that creates group unity and a dialectical connection with the actor. The emotion creates a sense of truth shared by performers and the audience. When empathetic resonance occurs, people feel like they belong to a group.30 That group cohesion occurs because participants share empathy with each other.31 The shared experiences mean that the artistic work seems “genuine,” explains Adams-Price.32 Goodman concluded that empathetic resonance explains group identity among Facebook groups.33 In applying empathetic resonance to film, Adams-Price, et al. found that “When [Meryl] Streep creates an emotional bond with the audience, they psychologically become part of the story.”34 If songs generated a shared emotional experience, the result could be a rhetorical vision.35 In the context of music, a rhetorical vision occurs when a song unites people together in agreement with the ideology of the social movement. “[V]erbal and nonverbal communication” can create a sense of shared goals and dreams of a future circumstance when people become participants “in the drama,” explains Bormann.36 The result is that people without a common background create a common culture. Bormann indicates people sharing a rhetorical vision also share a similar “psyschodynamics” and a “preoccupation” with a set of issues.37 “A member dramatizes a theme that catches the group and causes it to chain out because it hits a common psychodynamic chord or a hidden agenda item or their common difficulties vis-à-vis the natural environment, the socio-political systems, or the economic structures,” writes Bormann. “The group grows excited, involved, more dramas chain out to create a common symbolic reality filled with heroes and villains.”38 Music was the rhetoric that created some sense of unity among participants in social movement of the 1960s. Bob Dylan served as the poet predicted by Burke’s concept of the poet because Dylan’s songs became a unifying force into the wide and varied reality of the protest movements of the 1960s. This paper analyzes Dylan’s music in search of the rhetoric that invoked the empathetic resonance and rhetorical vision that unified the disparate social reform movements of the 1960s. As the prophet, Dylan’s lyrics, performances, and music were a unifying force in the social movement of the 1960s. Accordingly, understanding Dylan’s rhetoric provides insight into how rhetoric unifies people together behind social movements.

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan arrived in New York in the winter of 1961. He entered the folk scene of Greenwich Village and became very popular within the left wing “beatniks” of the early 60s. During this time Dylan wrote some of his most influential protest music—”Blowin’ In The Wind”, “The Times They Are A-Changin’”, “Masters of War,” and a host of other songs that revealed and condemned an unjust and racially divided nation that was on the verge nuclear holocaust. In 1965, Dylan traded his acoustic and folk music fame for an electric guitar and a band. As a result, he was “booed” vehemently at the Newport Folk festival where it is rumored Pete Seeger threatened to cut the electrical cords that powered Dylan’s newly formed amplifiers and sound system. Although he only performed three songs with his band, it was obvious that his destiny was seeking other places. After the Newport Folk Festival Dylan returned to the recording studio accompanied by musicians and electrical instruments. During this period, he recorded his famous three-album trilogy consisting of 369 Bob Dylan: Brandon et al

Highway 61 Revisited, Bringing it all Back Home, and Blonde on Blonde. This triumvirate of music initiated a new music called folk rock—a synthesis of Modern Folk music and postmodern surrealistic rock music that led to an even more displaced and radicalized social movement. By the end of 1967, America and Western Europe were spiraling into the abyss of social, political, and cultural turmoil. Traditions and previous assumptions were being discarded—a new generation was spinning toward the vortex of collective passion, united change, and often-violent rage against a venerable post war society. Mark Lytle labels these post war years as the “era of conformity and consensus” or better known as the “Consensus Society.”39 The influence of Bob Dylan’s music challenged this “consensus society” and, as a result, created a paradigm of postmodern self-discovery. His lyrics identified the “confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones and worse…every hung-up person in the whole wide universe,”40 who began to mutiny and abandon the social dreadnoughts of conformity and set sail for a trip upon Dylan’s “magic swirling ship.” His music changed the landscape of social and political conformity and laid the foundation for the revolutionary turbulence of the late 1960s. Social movements require a shared rhetoric. That shared rhetoric can be created by the prophet—a role played by Bob Dylan in the youth unrest that came to fruition in 1968. According to Milman Parry, oral prophesy is likely to contain “riddles, puns, sound-plays, rhetorical questions and dialogues that are marks of performance by a speaker trying to engage and hold the audience.” Dylan posed the questions and his audience “drew their conclusions on the wall” in the form of rebellion against all aspects of traditionalism and conventionality.41 Brown argues that Dylan “is not a prophet that brings the hope of renewal. Rather, he delivers a blunt confrontation with reality that is stripped of blinding ideological fantasy.”42 Lynskey (2011) agrees, identifying Dylan as the “prophet” of disaffected youth.43 Unquestionably, Dylan’s influence transformed the cultural and philosophical attitudes of post war modernity—as result, a new generation of youthful surrogates became engulfed in the surrealistic enlightenment of music, meaning and empathy. By 1966, his orphaned folk idealism had morphed into a postmodern disillusionment that especially resonated with a restless and displaced society, livid with injustice and living on the brink of nuclear annihilation. The music Dylan created from the early to mid-sixties prefaced the rebellion that would “shake the windows and rattle the wall” (“The Times They Are A-Changin’”) of traditional American culture and values. As a poet, lyrist, and musician, Dylan was out of the Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie tradition, but nothing like his music had been heard before. His nasal voice and whining harmonica demanded and received immediate attention; songs such as “Blowin’ In The Wind”, “It’s a Hard Rain’s A Gonna Fall”, and “The Times They Are A-Changin’” foreshadowed the ominous clouds that were blowing disorder and change. Jacques Attali’s (1985) points out “music is prophecy…[It] makes audible the new world that will gradually become visible.”44 (10). In the foreword of Attali’s book, Jameson (1985) contends that Attali’s “Noise” theory has within it the “possibility of a superstructure to anticipate historical developments, to foreshadow new social formations in prophetic and annunciatory way.”45 Referencing Plato, Attali qualitatively affirmed that, “the modes of music are never disturbed without the unsettling of the most fundamental political and social conventions.”46 Through the lens of modernity, Attali concurs, “every major social rupture has been preceded by an essential mutation in the code of music.”47 In fact, Attali was the first to point out that the prophetic “noise” created by Dylan’s early protest songs set the stage for social changes.

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Civil Rights and Social Equality Prophecy

Bob Dylan is “first and foremost an oral poet and a literary figure.”48 His most notable achievements in the early 1960s were his involvement with the civil rights movement. “Blowin’ In The Wind” fired the early shots of the left-wing folk scene when he addressed such as issues as war, peace, and universal civil rights. The song contains a wealth of open-ended questions that suggest prophecy and time. Dylan interrogates the audience:

– How many roads must a man walk down Before you call him a man? – Yes, ’n’ how many seas must a white dove sail Before she sleeps in the sand? – Yes, ’n’ how many times must the cannonballs fly Before they’re forever banned? – How many years can a mountain exist Before it’s washed to the sea? – Yes, ’n’ how many years can some people exist Before they’re allowed to be free? – Yes, ’n’ how many times can a man turn his head Pretending he just doesn’t see? – How many times must a man look up Before he can see the sky? – Yes, ’n’ how many ears must one man have Before he can hear people cry? – Yes, ’n’ how many deaths will it take till he knows That too many people have died?

The lyrics challenge the audience to decide what society must do to achieve racial equality and peace, for disarmament, and to create a world of human dignity. In many ways the song is prophetic. The song offers no definitive answers—however, Dylan does suggest that change will eventually come. In fact, he analogizes the “answers” to a restless piece of paper blowing down a deserted street—a piece of paper that must one day stop and rest somewhere (“Letter” 7). The questions Dylan asks demand soul searching answers. Reactions and solutions within the folk community requested a call to arms. The battle would be fought in the “no man’s land” of impatience and cultural insurrection. Dylan’s “Blowin’ In The Wind” set the stage for the idealistic transformation from modern cold war culture to the postmodern consciousness of equity and non-conformity. Gregg Campbell confirms this prophetic change by stating, “Release, justification and salvation can only be achieved through the total destruction, not only of the oppressors, but of the entire society.”49 Campbell further crowns Dylan as a spokesman of the counter-culture—the creator of “equitable and humane society.”50 “Blowin’ In The Wind” would initiate the revolution that would eventually come to a head in the late 1960s—however; conversely, the song would also propagate the emotive request for empathy and understanding, which would characterize his songs.

Anti-War Prophecy

Dylan’s “It’s a Hard Rains A Gonna Fall” exposed the fragility of a world facing imminent nuclear war. Christine Jones (2013) describes the song as overflowing “with apocalyptic imagery reminiscent of Old-Testament prophecy, as it foretells the destruction of the world by flood.”51 (1). “Hard Rain” projected surrealistic consequences of atomic weapons leashed out upon an innocent world. To add to Dylan’s ambiguity, he claimed he wrote the song in segments, but because of the Cuban Missile conflict and the imminent possibility of nuclear war, he stated, “I thought I wouldn’t have time to write all those songs so I put all I could into this one.” However, later he denounced the song’s meaning by saying, “No, it’s not atomic rain, it’s just a hard rain. I mean some sort of end that’s just gotta happen.”52 Nevertheless, it added to the apocalyptic appetite that was forming as a result of rebellion against the post war status quo. According to Todd Gitlin, Dylan’s futuristic 371 Bob Dylan: Brandon et al vision collided with the older generation who saw the nuclear weapons as peacekeepers, equalizers. Dylan and his generation saw it as a “shadow hanging over all human endeavor.”53 Writer Ian Macdonald concludes by stating that “Hard Rain” is “one of the most idiosyncratic protest songs ever written.”54 Idiosyncratic can also be a term easily applied to Bob Dylan, as most great artist are usually accused of idiosyncrasies. Most importantly, however, “Hard Rain” became a conduit to a mass audience that was ready to escape the dark tunnels of conformity and tradition. In fact, it connected emotionally and exponentially with the body politic of folk leaders who were, at the right time, seeking leadership in an empathic new world. James Dunlap argues “folk music could be used in ways to serve either individual emotional needs, on the one hand, or… definable social and political objectives, on the other.”55

Youth Rebellion Prophecy

It is obvious that Dylan’s protest music called for a new society, one that was brought about by the many social and political changes to the American landscape in the 1960s and into the 1970s. His unique style created a collective consciousness that would seek to challenge and eradicate the materialistic, racial, cultural, and political injustices that existed in the early 1960s. Dylan’s prophetic masterpiece “The Times They Are A Changin” was a warning to the status quo and a summons for youthful rebellion. His messianic injunction to “gather around people wherever you roam” and listen—and “don’t speak too soon for the wheel still in spin.” His commands require immediate scrutiny of the old world. Warnings and admonishments are apparent and imminent—”he that gets hurt will be who has stalled; there’s a battle outside and its ragin”. “Times” employs the 2nd person “You” and “your” an inordinate number of times—it issues personal warnings such as “you better start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone” and that “your old road is rapidly fading.” The song ignited the fires of revolt and cynicism, especially among the youth. It welded together the issues of equality, anti-war, and youthful rebellion and formed the true “counterculture” that would turn to drugs, love, peace, and anti establishment’s ideals. Dylan critic Christine Jones succinctly points out that in “Times,” “Dylan takes on the role of the prophet in appealing to the conscience of a people, with injunctions to ‘admit that the waters around you have grown,’ ‘accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the bond’ and “start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone.”56 His continuing prophecy is also addressed to the establishment when he indicates “Senators and Congressmen,” “Mother’s and Father’s throughout the land”, and “writers and critics.” In fact, “Times” challenges all aspects of post-war society. As a prophetic visionary, Dylan not only rearranges certain ideas, he brings forth an entire set of new ones—ideas that would attract disaffected generation of youth. According to Attali, musicians prophesize change— and Dylan’s vision, although somewhat apocalyptic, sought to bring overthrow and replacement to the old social order. “Chimes of Freedom” also propagated the chronic youth rebellion that was staggering in an attempt to find itself. As its title proposes, it is a song about individual freedom—a freedom that included “warriors”, “refugees”, the “underdog soldier” and “every hung up person.” “Chimes” was reminiscent of Woody’s Guthrie’s home spun philosophical idea of universal rights. However, Dylan takes freedom to an almost Christ-like intensity to include all those who exist on and off the margins of society. “Chimes of Freedom” employs New Testament rhetoric to prophesize how the “rake,” the “luckless,” “the forsakened,” “the deaf and blind,” “faceless and voiceless” and “the mistitled prostitute” can be regenerated

372 Media Watch 8 (3) through “individual redemption and personal freedom.”57 “Chimes of Freedom” was in fact the beginning of the Dylan’s surrealistic journey into the unknown of what Jones described as the “deconstruction of enlightenment.”58

Postmodern Prophecy and Revolution

According to Jones, “Dylan was instrumental in creating the changes to come in popular music, and because his early songs both prophesied and accompanied social changes,” he was subsequently crowned with the title of the “voice of a generation,” a title he very much disregarded.59 By the mid 1960s, Dylan’s anti-conformity march was becoming very attractive to a post-war generation who, until then, sought rationality over self-expression. Dylan’s prophecy became hyper-eclectic with expressiveness and personal freedom—the genesis of a collective identity of youthful rebellion. In 1965, Dylan began his trilogy of albums that mixed folk music with the electrical accompaniment of a band—a synthesis that justified the appellation of “Folk Rock.” The triumvirate recordings of Bringing it all Back Home, followed by, Highway 61 Revisited and Blond on Blond fashioned a surrealistic shift that was popular with the imminent drug culture of the mid 1960s. Lyrics such as “take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind, down the foggy ruins of time” and “Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot, fighting in the captains tower, while Calypso singers laugh at them, and fishermen hold flowers” formed a fresh artistic meaning for the rebellious youth who had previously lived in a world dominated by rote rationality. Folk world questions on social equality and anti-war rhetoric took a back seat to parody, satire, and surrealism—social questions are eliminated and replaced by declarations. His triumvirate (Subterranean Homesick Blues, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde on Blonde, propelled Dylan into the stratosphere of prophet/philosopher, His rhetoric is now formed in axioms:

– there is no success in failure, and that failure is no success at all, – even a pawn must hold a grudge – it don’t take a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows – you know something is happening here, but you don’t know what it is—do you Mr. Jones?

These lyrics bounce through the desolation of T.S. Elliot’s Wasteland, and resonate with a restless and dissatisfied youth. Furthermore, Dylan would propagate a more philosophical polished prophecy that directly confronted the established consensus of post World War II thought. For example, in “It’s all Right Ma” he employs quasi biblical proverbs such as “the masters make the rules for the wise men and the fools”; apocalyptic imagery such as “Darkness at the Break of Noon,” “Eclipses both the sun and moon”, and musical metaphor of horns that play “wasted words proves to warn that he not busy being born is busy dying.” Highway 61 Revisited was in many ways the catalysts for the oblique implementation of the “tune in, turn on, drop out” mantra propagated by Timothy Leary in 1967. “Turn on” essentially dealt with in the activation of inner consciousness of one’s being (usually aligned to the use of drugs). “Drop Out” generally meant, “self- reliance, a discovery of one’s…commitment to mobility, choice, and change” (often misconstrued as “Get stoned and abandon all constructive activity”). Within the lyrics of Highway 61 Revisited, Dylan employed tropes such as “Napoleon in rags”; “Cinderella she seems so easy”; “God said to Abraham/kill me a son/Abe says man you must be putting me on”; to propagate a surreal world. Throughout the album, Dylan masterfully, and metaphorically, creates a 373 Bob Dylan: Brandon et al wide variety of emotional and figurative imagery that intensified the fading reality of social consensus and moral inclinations of generations to come. In fact, Highway 61 Revisited relegated materialistic realism to the rich and powerful—the same fearful foe the young would clash with in 1968. Blond on Blond, the last album of Dylan’s triumvirate, was released in May of 1966. The album presented the end of the beginning of postmodern tribulation that would “soon shake the windows and rattle the walls/for the times” they were changing. His prophetic message in this album was essentially that there was no message—only surreal declarations and unanswerable questions. His recurring chorus in “Stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues Again” was that “oh Mama/can this really be the end?” In some ways Blond on Blond represented the end of era. Lyrics in the song “Visions of Johanna” reveal the declivity of a generation waiting… “We sit here stranded, though we’re all doing our best to deny it”; “We can hear the night watchman click his flashlight…ask himself if it’s him or them that’s insane…” and “voices echo this is what salvation must be like after a while.” As the voice of a generation, Dylan’s prophecy has now become the “ghost of ‘lectricity’” lingering on the edge of dramatic change as he declares “these visions of Johanna are now all that remain.” Blond on Blond manifest Dylan’s brilliant use of imagistic scenes and tropes— ”Mona Lisa musta had the highway blues”; “When the jelly faced women all sneeze” are just two examples from “Visions of Johanna.” Furthermore, it cannot be denied that Dylan wrote some of his most bizarre imagery for this album. For example the songs “I Want You” and “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again” include a repertoire of odd, but almost “true to life” characters that leaps (“The drunken Politician leaps”), sighs, (The guilty undertaker sighs) and says (“When Ruthie says come see me in her honky-tonk lagoon”)—in fact, the characters and their actions on this album become a corroded society that prophesied the end of the beginning. In July 1966, Dylan, for the most part, disappeared. His famous “motorcycle crash” sent him into a self-imposed obscurity. However, in 1967, he returned with his “country western” influenced album “John Wesley Harding.” The album featured one the most tumultuous songs of the pre 1968 era—”All Along the Watchtower.” The song manifest the haunting image of what was about to happen. However, for his part, his declaration spoke to a generation on the brink of destruction, “there must be some kind of way out of here.” From there, Dylan’s prophecy is history. It is obvious that Dylan’s protest music called for a new society, one that was brought about by the many social and political changes to the American landscape in the 1960s and into the 1970s. However, it was his shift from the folk music to rock that caused the ultimate volatile climate that would characterize the turmoil of the later part of the decade. After his appearance at the Newport folk festival, all empathy was shattered among the loyal followers of his early folk days. However, the noise he created would many times overshadow the “boos” that would howled on that day. The move from modern to postmodern is most obvious in Dylan’s shift from folk to rock. No one was prepared for the emotional response that was caused by his postmodern transition into a world of displacement, dysfunction, and disillusionment that was witnessed in the mid 1960s. His unique style created a collective consciousness that would seek to challenge and eradicate the racial, cultural, and political injustices that existed in the early 1960s.

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Conclusion

Dylan challenged people through his music to question the social order, to evaluate whether government was serving the social good, to consider the role of leaders to bring social reform that produced more individual freedom and dignity to the individual. Because Dylan played that rhetorical role in the 1960s, he is considered a prophet, earning a Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016. Scholarship could consider the role of other prophets in rhetorical processes of social reform in the 1960s. The rhetorical role of the Students for a Democratic Society, Martin Luther King, President John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, President Richard Nixon, the Black Panthers, and many others were prophets who spoke the rhetoric that created empathetic resonance, rhetorical visions, and ideology that motivated adherents to their positions. Perhaps prophets are required for social reform groups to be successful advocates for change. If so, then Teddy Roosevelt, Robert La Follett, and Franklin Roosevelt were the prophets of the Progressive Movement. William Jennings Bryan could be the prophet of the Populist and Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglas of abolition. However, what may be unique to social change in the 1960s was the role of music. Songs have often been part of social movements, as many of the authors we have cited point out. Woody Guthrie became famous for his music during the labor movement in the 1930s and 1940s. However, the music was not the force that motivated social change, but a reflection of the commonality of people who believed in the cause of labor justice. “We Shall Overcome” was adopted by the Civil Rights Movement, but was not a rhetorical element that brought people to the movement. Uniquely, music in the 1960s was the voice of the social movements and the rhetoric that created self identity through group identification.

Notes

1 https://9marks.org/article/the-american-jeremiad-a-bit-of-perspective-on-the-rhetoric- of-decline/ 2 Todd Gitlin. The Sixties: Years of hope, Days of Rage (New York: Bantam Books, 1987): 29. 3 Charles Kaiser. 1968 in America: Music, Politics, Chaos, Counterculture, and the Shaping of a Generation. (New York: Grove Press, 1988): xxiv. 4 Dorian Lynskey. 33 Revolutions Per Minute: A History of Protest Songs, From Billie Holiday to Green Day. (New York: HarperCollins, 2011): 52. 5 Lawrence Chenoweth. “”The Rhetoric of Hope and Despair: A Study of the Jimi Hendrix Experience and the Jefferson Airplane.” American Quarterly, 23(1971): 34. I messed this up, the title should be in quotation marks. 6 David Maraniss. They Marched Into Sunlight. War and Peace: Vietnam and America, October 1967. (New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2003): 79. 7 Richard B. Gregg. “The Ego-Function of the Rhetoric of Protest. Philosophy and Rhetoric, 4(1971): 84. 8 Kirkpatrick Sale, SDS ( New York: Random House. 1973): 409. 9 Theodore Otto Windt,, Jr. Presidents and Protesters: Political Rhetoric in the 1960s. (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1990): 160. 10 Sale, 458. 11 Kaiser, 192. 12 Mark Kurlansky. 1968: The Year That Rocked the World. (New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2005): 93. 375 Bob Dylan: Brandon et al

13 Kenneth Burke. A Rhetoric of Motives. (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1969): 11. 14 Edward Schiappa. “Second Thoughts on the Critiques of Big Rhetoric.” Philosophy and Rhetoric, 3(2001): 261. 15 Brad E. Lucas. Radicals, Rhetoric and the War: The University of Nevada in the Wake of Kent State. (Palgrave MacMillan, 2006): x. 16 Martin Klimke. The Other Alliance: Student Protest in West Germany & the United States in the Global Sixties. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010): 5. 17 Beate Kutschke and Barley Norton (eds.) Music and Protest in 1968. Cambridge University Press, 2015): 14. 18 Kevin Comotois. Troubadors & Troublemakers: The Evolution of American Protest Music, 2nd ed. (San Bernadino, CA, 2015): 196. 19 Rob Rosenthal and Richard Flacks. Playing for Change: Music and Musicians in the Service of Social Movements. (New York: Routledge, 2016): 124. 20 Nora Farik. 1968 Revisited: 40 Years of Protest Movements. (Brussels: Heinrich Boll Foundation, 2004): 4. 21 Ralf Fücks. “What is left? 1968 revisited,” in editor Nora Farik, 1968 Revisited: 40 Years of Protest Movements, in editor Nora Farik. (Brussels: Heinrich Boll Foundation, 2004): 7. 22 Ann Swidler, A. “Cultural Power and Social Movements,” in editors Hank Johnston, and Bert Klandermans, Social Movements and Culture. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1995): 25-40. 23 William A. Gamson, William A. (1995). “Constructing social protest,” in editors Hank Johnston, and Bert Klandermans, Social Movements and Culture. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1995): 85. 24 Jeremi Suri. The Global Revolution of 1968. (New York: W.W. Norton, 2007), 216.

25 Rob Rosenthal and Richard Flacks. Playing for Change: Music and Musicians in the Service of Social Movements. (New York: Routledge, 2016): 5. 26 Rosenthal and Flacks, 94. 27 Burke, 5. 28 Burke, 12. 29 Detlef Siegfried. “Music and Protest in 1960s Europe, in editors Martin Limke and Joachim Scharloth, 1968 in Europe: A History of Protest and Activism. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008): 65. 30 See Gordon Lynch. “The Application of Self-Psychology to Short Term Counseling.” Psychodynamic Counseling 4 (1998): 373–89. 31 Pernille Bertelson. “General Psychological Principles in Kohut’s Self Psychology Reconsidered from a Phenomenological Perspective.” Journal of Phenomenological Psychology 27 (1996): 146–73. 32 Carolyn Adams-Price. Creativity and Aging: Theoretical and Empirical Approaches. (New York: SpringerVerlag, 1998): 281. 33 Mark Goodman. “Emotions and Social Networking—Bret Favre Resigns,” Media Watch, 1(2010): pp. 66-75. 34 Carolyn Adams-Price, Jim Codling, Mark Goodman, Kevin Kern, C. M. Kleinmann, Bonnie Oppenheimer, Rebekah Ray, Porter Roberts, and Pete Smith. (2006). “Empathic Resonance and Meryl Streep.” Journal of Popular Film & Television, 34 (2006): 105. 35 See Ernest G. Bormann. “Fantasy and Rhetorical Vision: The Rhetorical Criticism of Social Reality, Quarterly Journal of Speech, 58(1972): 397-407. 36 Bormann, 397. 37 Bormann, 399. 38 Bormann, 399. 376 Media Watch 8 (3)

39 Mark H. Lytle. America’s Uncivil Wars: The Sixties Era from Elvis to the Fall of Richard Nixon. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006): 47. 40 Bob Dylan. “Chimes of Freedom,” Columbia Records. Side 1, Track 4. Dylan’s 1965 album, Subterranean Homesick Blues, 1964. 41 Milman Parry as cited in Carol Simpson Stern and Bruce Henderson, Performance: Texts and Contexts (New York: Longman, 1993): 18. 42 Brown, 2008, 157. 43 Dorian Lynskey. 33 Revolutions Per Minute: A History of Protest Songs, from Billie Holiday to Green Day. (New York: HarperCollins, 2011):152. 44 Jacques Attali. Translation by Brian Massumi, Noise: The Political Economy of Music. (Manchester, MI: Manchester University Press, 1985): 10. 45 Frederick Jameson. “Foreword,” In Jacques Attali (author), translated by Brian Massumi, Noise: The Political Economy of Music. (Manchester, MI: Manchester University Press, 1985): xi. 46 Attali, 131. 47 Attali, 130. 48 Clinton Heylin Revolution in the Air: The Songs of Bob Dylan 1957-1973. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2009): 8. 49 Gregg Campbell:78. 50 Campbell, 79. 51 Christine Jones: 1. 52http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/12/16/ bob_dylan_interview_by_studs_terkel_in_1963_on_wfmt_listen_audio.html 53 Gitlin, 121. 54 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Rain’s_a-Gonna_Fall 55James Dunlap “Through the Eyes of Tom Joad: Patterns of American Idealism, Bob Dylan, and the Folk Protest Movement. Popular Music and Society, 29(2006): 559. 56 Jones, 60. 57 Jones, 62. 58 Jones, 65. 59 Jones, 50. 60 Rosenthal and Flacks, 100. 61 Rosenthal and Flacks, 11. 62 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/staff-sergeant-barry-sadler-hits-1-with- ballad-of-the-green-berets.

Dr. Stephen Brandon is an instructor in English at Mississippi State University, USA. He specializes in rhetoric and music. Isaac Maupin is a Ph.D. student in musicology at University of Kentucky, USA. His interest is American music. Dr. Mark Goodman is a professor of communication at Mississippi State University, USA. He specializes in mass media effects. 377 © Media Watch 8 (3) 378-387, 2017 ISSN 0976-0911 e-ISSN 2249-8818 DOI: 10.15655/mw/2017/v8i3/49151 Sustenance of Native Culture in Multilingual Written Texts: A Case Study of The God of Small Things and The Hungry Tide

SANGEETA MUKHERJEE Vellore Institute of Technology University, India

Literary multilingualism has been dexterously used by the Indian English writers to reflect the cultural and behavioral style of the characters and make the setting realistic. The paper attempts to identify and analyze the kinds of literary techniques used in Indian English fiction and how through the use of these techniques, the writers have tried to sustain the native culture in the setting of the novel. The tools chosen for analysis include translated proverbs, songs and religious verse and the methodology preferred for this purpose is narrative methodology. The analysis of these devices in the textual background shows that in the Indian English fiction, the native culture in the setting of the novel can best be sustained by the use of native elements.

Keywords: Literary multilingualism, sustainability, Indian English, culture, proverbs, religious verse

“The term literary multilingualism primarily refers to the more or less extended mix of two or more languages in the same text, entailing a cross-cultural or experimental effect” (Knauth, 2007). Literary multilingualism or intratextual multilingualism was practiced right since antiquity but earlier it was marginalised due to the rhetoric principle of purity. But with the advent of the 20th century and the globalization of communication, literary multilingualism has increased multifariously. India being a multilingual country, literary multilingualism or intratextual multilingualism was natural and can be traced back in the works of Kalidas. This phenomenon became more prominent in India after the invasions and colonization. And later eventually with English occupying a prominent position in our country as well as in the global market, literary multilingualism (mix of English and other native languages) took its shape in the form of Indian English. Indian English or nativized English is a form of English where we find deviations (from the Standard English) at phonological, morphological, syntactic and stylistic levels. This new form of English was natural in a multicultural and multilingual country like ours and because of the flexibility of the English language. ‘“To maintain the cultural references when moving from one linguistic system to another is extremely difficult, because we cannot forget that language is the repository of inherited values, belief systems, and modes of experience and sensibility”’ (Salvador, 2001) and so the Indian English writers had to resort to literary multilingualism, since culture-specific terms do not have English equivalents. Thus they have used native elements in their writings and most of these elements are rooted in the native culture.

Correspondence to: Sangeeta Mukherjee, Department of English, School of Social Sciences and Languages, Vellore Institute of Technology University, Tamil Nadu-632 014, India. E-mail: [email protected] 378 Media Watch 8 (3)

Culture as we know is “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society” (Tylor, 1974) and “every language is like a snail, it carries its social and cultural history on its back” (Dev Sen, 1977). Thus languages can be viewed as cultural resources that can be sustained in a non-native land by incorporating the native elements. Sustainability as we know can be defined as an ability or capacity of something to be maintained or to sustain itself. Here we would show how the Indian culture and sensibility is sustained in the multilingual written texts or more specifically in Indian English fiction by the Indian English writers.

Motivation for Study

Linguists have focused mostly on the phenomenon of written language mixing in literary genres (Schmeling & Schmitz-Emans, 2002; Knauth 2007) or spoken language mixing (Gumperz, 1982; Myers-Scotton, 1993; Auer, 1999; Li Wei, 1998, 2005). Linguists have also studied multilingual written texts “where language alternation takes the form of embedding a representation of speech (for example, dialogue) within a larger matrix (for example, the narrative in a novel)” (Sebba, 2011). One such study was Timm’s (1978) analysis of Tolstoy’s novel War and Peace and many similar studies followed suit in the nineties and 2000s pertaining to other literary genres. Gardner-Chloros and Weston (2015) discussed about the main types of literary multilingualism and also the major functions of code-switching inside it. They have studied the multilingual texts from a sociolinguistic point of view, including those texts with code-switching inside them, with the help of many examples. They have also focused on the differences and similarities between the functions of code- switching in spoken and written forms, and concluded that the functions are similar in both modalities and also extend to other semiotic systems like sign language and visual culture. Müller (2015) also discussed examples of literary code-switching in selected Italo-Brazilian texts to highlight the relationship between the forms and functions of literary multilingualism and their sociolinguistic implications and concluded that though the stylistic function of code-switching played a major role in literature than in other genres on a micro-level, yet on the macro-level that kind of code-switching could be considered to be a response to bilingual identity. The Indian English writers too have used many native elements in their narratives like lexical items, translated proverbs and idioms, native songs, compounds, and written code-switching to reflect the cultural and behavioral style of the characters and make the setting in their novels seem authentic. This has given the researchers enough scope to conduct in-depth analysis of Indian English writings, the process of Indianization of English, the analysis of the native elements and the contexts in which they are used. Kachru (1983) who examined the process of Indianization of English in India stressed upon the relation between the formal manifestation of Indian English and the functional relevance of the Indian cultural settings. According to him, the deviations in Indian English are an effect of the Indianization of English that has made Indian English culture-bound in the socio- cultural setting of India. Thorat (2000) while analyzing the discourse analysis in selected five Indian novels observed that the innovations and the deviations introduced by the novelists in the speeches of their fictional characters show that they have used the English language as an adaptable resource for adding meaning. Another scholar, Warsi (2004), studied the Indianization of English media and its importance in India and concluded that Indianized English was used in Indian media to cater to the needs of the Indians.

379 Native Culture: Mukherjee

A linguistic and pragmatic analysis of social discourse in the Indian English texts was conducted by Sarangi (2005) that included examination of literary discourses, verbal and non-verbal linguistic transactions, transmissions and exchanges to develop the relation between language use and types of situations in literary contexts. Rollason (2006) followed in the footsteps of Sarangi and analyzed native words and imagery from the perspective of plausible translation difficulties by adopting a descriptive and lexical approach. He succeeded in establishing the defining hybridity of Indian English. Another scholar Sundarsingh (2009) analyzed the novel That Long Silence by applying the model used by Kachru with special reference to the latter’s contextualization, Indianness and lexical innovations that helped in rendering the significant characteristics of Indianized English. On a similar vein, Kakati (2013) applauded the acceptance of Indian Writings in English as an important literary enterprise. She discussed how Indianness played a pivotal role in shaping the Indian creative writing in English where the writers have taken the help of Indian elements like myths, fables, songs and legends which lends a typically Indian flavor to the Indian English literature. It was thus not surprising when the famous Malayali writer, Meera (2015), remarked that the identity or relevance of the Indian English writers in the global scenario was due to their use of Indianness in their writings and stressed upon the fact that it (Indianness) can be preserved only by strengthening the regional languages. Scholars have accepted the fact that native situations, socio-cultural and religious values, and the inbuilt native psyche of the non-native speakers of English are responsible for motivating the Indian writers of English to use the native elements in the English language. They have also talked about the functional aspects and the extra-linguistic factors responsible for the nativization of the English language. However, no attempt has been made to study the different kinds of literary multilingualism used in Indian English fiction and how the native culture is preserved through them. It thus has left us with a possibility of exploring the kinds of literary multilingualism used in multilingual written texts and the effect they produce in the process.

Objective and Method

The present paper thus endeavors to identify and analyze the kinds of literary multilingualism used in the Indian English fiction and how through the use of these literary techniques, the writers have tried to sustain the native culture in the setting of the novels. The novels chosen for the purpose are Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things and Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide. The two novels have been chosen for the following reasons: (i) the entire backdrop of both is rural India that gives us an insight into the typical Indian society – depicting customs, culture, religious beliefs, casteism, superstitions, and social stratification, in contrast to the cosmopolitan culture practised in the Indian cities, (ii) the existence of various regional languages (including dialects) and the presence of regional and cultural variations in the two novels give us a better scope to verify our claim. The setting of The God of Small Things is Kerala and the characters are mostly Malayalees. It becomes evident that the language mostly used by the characters is Malayalam. On the other hand, the locale of The Hungry Tide is Bengal and the characters mostly Bengalis. Here the language used is either Bengali or the local dialects used in Sunderbans. The tools or literary techniques selected for the present study are songs, religious verse and translated proverbs. Though there are many devices like the native terms, expressions, idioms, social phenomena like code-switching and code-mixing, structural and stylistic deviations, etc. which help in retaining the native culture in the multilingual 380 Media Watch 8 (3) written texts, yet in the present texts it is the songs, religious verses and proverbs that are deeply ingrained in the native culture of the place and therefore more suitable for the sustenance of native culture in multilingual written texts. They give us a glimpse of the thought processes of the native people, their mode of understanding and observing reality. The retention of the songs, religious verse and the use of the translated proverb to sustain the native culture in the multilingual written texts has been most skilfully and meticulously done by the authors. The analysis is based on the narrative methodology which is important in interpreting and theorizing the culture of a particular community. It indicates how the narrative theories enable us to theorize interpersonal communication, culture and identity of a given community. Narratives are stories or sequence of events that form an important part of any language as they contain in them the native cultural traits of the given community. Narrative theory studies how narrative is a basic human strategy for dealing with the essential elements of our experience, and from this postulation it examines the unique nature of narrative and its various structures, elements, uses, and effects. In short, it studies the tools and principles governing the organization of a story into a sequence. Thus the narrative theorists study how narrative is different from other kinds of discourse and how they aid people not only to make sense of the world around them but also to make sense of the stories. In short, they investigate diverse fields, be it written texts, film narratives or oral story-telling, to find out how narratives can steer experience. Hence, due to the popularity of narrative in our Indian culture and the diversity of the multilingual written texts or Indian English fiction, we have chosen narrative methodology in our study to achieve our objective. There are many narrative theorists who have applied theory to explicate the structure of narratives. The most prominent among them are Vladimir Propp, Tzvetan Todorov, Roland Barthes, and Claude Levi-Strauss. But for the sake of convenience, we have identified some basic features of narrative theories, instead of focusing on any particular one. Based on the data chosen for analysis, we have observed and identified features like i) classification of the characters and their actions into clearly defined roles and functions, ii) the trend of the stories beginning in an “equilibrium state” which is disrupted by a problem that leads to the state of “disequilibrium” and at the end how the characters sort out the problem to reach the state of “equilibrium” again, iii) the cultural code – a narrative device which the audience / readers can recognize as being part of a culture, and iv) stories unconsciously reflecting the values, beliefs and myths of a particular culture expressed in the form of “binary oppositions” like the presence of God / Devil and Good /Evil.

Tools for Analysis

All narratives as we know are culture-based and are rich in native linguistic expressions like proverbs, idioms and mythological stories closely connected with the native culture. Like other languages, the Indian languages also contain many narrative contexts consisting of a large number of proverbs, idioms, and traditional stories with religious and mythological associations, which are entrenched in the native culture. Every aspect of these proverbs, idioms, and stories, i.e., the characters, the situations and the objects has long socio- cultural and religious associations, which cannot be replaced by proper correspondences in the other languages nor in English. The illustrations drawn from these contexts from the Indian languages are included in the Indian English fiction too. We have included the translated form of the native proverbs, songs and religious verse in this study as they are the English interpretations of the original linguistic expressions.

381 Native Culture: Mukherjee

We know that the significance of songs varies according to culture and social context, as they are inextricably intertwined with the ways of life of the people. Sometimes, a culture’s history may be transmitted orally through songs. Religion plays a pivotal role in the lives of the people of India and influences the Indian culture significantly. Religious verses or hymns are inseparable part of any religion and play a vital role in influencing and determining the value systems used in the culture of a particular community. And India being a land of diverse religions, these religious verses plays a crucial role in shaping the Indian culture. Thus, the songs and religious verses used in the multilingual written texts or to be more precise, in Indian English fiction, are not only contextually significant but they also help in bringing out the natural surroundings, the picture of the society and the primal Indian culture with its beliefs and traditions. Proverbs, on the other hand, are sayings that have gained credence through frequent use and indicate the essence of experience of the speech community. Words can neither be added nor deleted from the proverbs. They are thus the most native items of any particular community and form an important part of its tradition. They are an integral part of the Indian milieu without which the real picture of the Indian society cannot be captured. They also act as a true link to the underlying story and its implication, as every proverb has originated from a story or incident. They are mostly used in informal conversations, discourses and narratives. In narratives and conversations, they are most specifically associated with the contexts. The Indian writers of English have thus used many translated Indian proverbs in their writings to transmit the underlying Indian sensibility. Hence, the translations of proverbs need skillful handling because a writer has “to make sure that the translated idioms or images do not go against the grain of English language” (Mukherjee, 1971). Therefore, we have chosen songs, religious verses and proverbs as the literary multilingual devices or tools for our study. Thus in this paper we will show how the authors have used the above literary techniques to recount the prevalent customs, beliefs and superstitions of the native people and in short how they have sustained the native culture in the texts.

Data Analysis

In this section, we are going to analyze the data from two texts – The God of Small Things and The Hungry Tide. The data have been put under three categories – songs (original along with their translated versions), religious verse (original along with its translation) and translated proverbs. In the text, The God of Small Things, we find two songs – one from the Onam boat race and the other from a Malayalam film, Chemmeen. We find a religious verse and a translated proverb in The Hungry Tide. Here we are going to show how the authors have used the above literary multilingual devices to sustain the native culture in the multilingual written texts.

Songs (i) Thaiy thaiy thaka thaiy thaiy thome! Enda da korangacha, chandi ithra thenjadu? (Hey Mr Monkey man, why’s your bum so red?) Pandyill thooran poyappol nerakkamuthiri nerangi njan. (I went for a shit to Madras, and scraped it till it bled.) [GST 196]

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This is a song from the Onam boat race. Onam is the state festival of Kerala, which is celebrated in honor of Mahabali, the mythical Asura king of ancient Kerala. The Malayalees believe that on Onam Day, Bali visits his subjects. An event that is synonymous with this festival is the Vallamkali or the snake boat race. Kerala is surrounded by seas and is full of inland water bodies and so boat races are a specialty of the state. Young people take part in the boat races and various songs are sung of which the above song is one. The author has retained the original song from the boat race to make the readers aware of the cultural festivals of Kerala and has at the same time given the translation of the song so that it does not become inexplicable to the non-native readers. The boat and the song are symbolic in the context because surrounding it (boat) many tragic incidents take place in the novel. Thus, the song is culture-specific as it is directly linked to the Malayali culture and one of the main festivals of Kerala. The song reminds us not only of the culture but also of the mythology associated with the festival.

(ii) Pandoru mukkuvan muthinu poyi, (Once a fisherman went to sea,) Padinjaran kattathu mungi poyi, (The West Wind blew and swallowed his boat,) Arayathi pennu pizhachu poyi, (His wife on the shore went astray,) Avaney kadalamma kondu poyi. (So Mother Ocean rose and took him away.) [GST 219-220]

This is a song from the Malayalam film, Chemmeen. Chemmeen which means ‘shrimps’ is based on the novel of the same name by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai. It is set in a small fisher folk community living in the coastal region of Alappuzha. In the story, the central characters Karuthamma and Pareekutty are lovers who belong to two different communities, she to the Hindu fisher folk and he to the Muslim community, and marriages between the two are strictly forbidden. Karuthamma is separated from Pareekutty by her father who marries her off to Palani, a fisherman from another village. Palani returns home safely every day until one day his wife unites with her old lover, and he drowns in the sea. The pair of lovers also commits suicide. According to the myth of Kadalamma, goddess of the sea, she is beneficent to the fisherman who leads a life of moral purity. ‘She is beneficent to the fisherman who leads a life of moral purity; even on the stormiest seas, she guards the fisherman whose wife remains chaste and prays for his safe return while he is at sea. It is not only the man’s life, but the life of the community as well that hangs upon the moral purity of the woman. The land, or in this context, the seashore, is identified with the woman’s body because local lore depicts a chaste woman who succeeds in bringing her man back from the jaws of impending death’ (Chandran, 2007). The myths revolving the sea goddess is common in most sea-faring countries and these myths are inevitable amongst communities that live close to sea. The Kadalamma myth also is ingeniously woven with the fisherman community’s belief that the safety of the man at sea is in the hands of his woman who, remaining chaste, prays for his safe return. The story of Chemmeen can be closely linked to the story of The God of Small Things where society punishes the lovers who try to break the social customs. Thus through the song, the Kadalamma myth and narrative associated with the native community and its cultural belief comes to the forefront. Here also the author has provided the English equivalents to make the song comprehensible for the non-native readers. 383 Native Culture: Mukherjee

India is a land of cultural diversities and every region in India has its own folk music and songs. The culture of a particular community or region is reflected through these songs. Driesen (1999) correctly observes that, “Intertwined with the songs are the cultural allusions which import the indigenous heritage into the master text”. Therefore, the author has very dexterously used this kind of literary multilingual device to preserve or sustain the native culture in the multilingual text. Thus though the language used in the narrative is English, the native culture is sustained through the use of the native songs.

Religious Verse

Bismillah boliya mukhey dhorinu kalam / poida korilo jini tamam alam* baro meherban tini bandar upore / taar chhani keba achhe duniyar upore* (In Allah’s name, I begin to pronounce the Word / Of the whole universe, He is the Begetter the Lord* To all His disciples, He is full of mercy / Above the created world, who is there but He*) (HT 246)

The religious verse has a hybrid language – a mixture of Bangla, Arabic and Persian. The Bangla used here is ‘Sadhu Bangla’ that is employed in literary texts and in religious verses. Here the original verse makes the context clear which only the translated form would have failed to do. It brings to one’s mind the narrative of Bon Bibi – the goddess of the forest, who protects the people of the Sunderbans from wild animals and other perils. She is a multicultural goddess and is worshipped both by the Hindus and the Muslims. Bon Bibi is worshipped by her Hindu followers as Bandurga, Bandevi or even as Banbibi, and her vahana (vehicle) is a tiger. She is revered by her Muslim followers as Banbibi and is known as a pirani. As the legend goes, there was a childless Sufi fakir, Ibrahim who lived in Medina. Archangel Gabriel blessed him with two children, a daughter (Bon Bibi) and a son (Shah Jongoli). When they grew up, Archangel Gabriel, asked them to go on a divine mission to Sunderbans, or Atharo Bhatir Desh (Land of 18 Tides), to save its people from the tyranny of Raja Dokkhin Rai, the wicked Brahmin or the demon king of the jungle, who tracked and killed humans in the guise of a tiger. They managed to overpower him and made him promise not to kill humans. Bon Bibi and her brother divided the forest into areas where people can live and where the Demon would live. Another legend intertwined with the previous one is about two brothers, Dhonai and Monai, who set out to collect honey wax, accompanied by their young nephew Dukhe. A dejected Dhonai, unable to find any beehives, returns to his boat and falls asleep. Raja Dokkhin Rai appears in his dream and demands the sacrifice of human flesh. He reminds him that they had not worshipped him prior to entering the forest. Fearing the wrath of the demon king, Dhonai decides to sacrifice Dukhe and leaves him in the jungle to be eaten by Dokkhin Rai. Just as the demon is about to pounce on Dukhe, in the guise of a tiger, Dukhe begins praying to Bon Bibi who appears before him, and saves him. A bitter fight ensues between Shah Jongoli and Dokkhin Rai, leading to the latter’s defeat. Bonbibi sends Dukhe home and bestows him with enormous wealth. Dukhe then establishes a shrine dedicated to Bonbibi in his village, ushering in the tradition of puja (worship) to the forest deity. In the Sunderbans, people of all religions worship Bon Bibi. Thus, in the land of the Sunderbans, ruled by tigers, tides, and the uncertainties of nature, there is a unique tradition of conservation and communal harmony. It is based on the villagers’ unwavering faith in Maa Bonbibi (forest deity) who is believed to bequeath them with strength and protection against Raja Dokkhin Rai (tiger god) as they struggle to eke out a living in the mangrove swamps. So, the verse is contextually significant and culture-laden. 384 Media Watch 8 (3)

Thus, by introducing the religious verse in the text, the author unravels the lesser known folklore of the Sunderbans, the legend of Bon Bibi which helps in retaining the native flavor of the text. The native culture and beliefs of a particular community is preserved in the text by the author through the introduction of the religious verse.

Translated Proverb

“You can’t explain what a madman will do any more than you can account for what a goat will eat” (HT 279).

The original Bangla proverb is “Pagole ki na bole, chhagole ki na khaye.” Bengalis believe that no one can predict what a mad man would do and say, just like one does not know what a goat would eat. Goats eat everything and similarly mad men talk any nonsense. Here the attitude of the speaker (Horen) is also revealed. It shows that he did not approve of Nirmal’s incessant talks on idealism, and hence, takes the help of the proverb to express his view. The author has deliberately provided the translated form of the proverb to make it conducive for the non-native readers to guess the meaning of it from the context. The native Bengali readers would be easily able to associate it with the original proverb and the purpose of using it in the said context. Thus the author has wittingly used the proverb to make the readers aware of the cultural beliefs of a particular community associated with it.

Conclusion

The analysis of the data in the previous section shows how through the use of literary techniques like songs, religious verses and translated proverbs the authors have succeeded in sustaining the native culture in the Indian English fiction. The native elements selected for the analysis intrinsically relate to the native culture of the community in the setting of the texts. The native words, expressions, idioms, code-switching and code-mixing, structural and stylistic deviations, etc. also help in retaining the native culture in the texts but in the present texts it is the songs, religious verses and proverbs that are deeply entrenched in the culture and hence more apt for the sustenance of native culture in the multilingual written texts or more specifically in Indian English fiction. It is because they give us an insight into the thought pattern of the native people, their way of experiencing and perceiving reality. The entire narrative or folklore of a particular fisher folk community of Kerala and the mythology associated with the religious practices and festivals of Kerala are represented through the songs. Similarly the mythology and religious beliefs of the people of a particular community of Bengal is narrated through the religious verse. The translated proverb also narrates the inherited beliefs and sensibility of the people of Bengal. In many communities, the native culture is projected through oral communication like songs, religious verses and proverbs and sometimes these are localized. The study shows how these literary techniques or rather how these examples of literary multilingualism can be used in the Indian English fiction to sustain the native culture in the texts. The authors have successfully used these procedures as a means to encapsulate the Indian culture and sensibility and sustain it in their texts.

Abbreviations: GST: The God of Small Things; HT: The Hungry Tide

385 Native Culture: Mukherjee

References

Auer, P. (1999). From code switching via language mixing to fused lects: Toward a dynamic typology of bilingual speech. International Journal of Bilingualism. Vol. 3, No. 4, 309- 332. Chandran, M. (2007). Not Lost in Translation: Chemmeen on Alien Shores. Translation Today. 4 (1 & 2), 55. Driesen, C. V. (1999). When Language Dances: The Subversive Power of Roy’s Text in The God of Small Things. Arundhati Roy: The Novelist extraordinary. Ed. R. K. Dhawan. New Delhi: Prestige Books, 370-371. Gardner-Chloros, P., & Weston, D. (2015). Code-switching and Multilingualism in Literature. Language and Literature. 24(3), 182-193. Ghosh, A. (2004). The Hungry Tide. New Delhi: Ravi Dayal Publisher, 2004. Gumperz, J. (1982). Discourse Strategies. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. Kachru, B. (1983). The Indianization of English: The English Language in India. Delhi: Oxford University Press. Kakati, P. (2013). Indian Elements in the making of Indian English Literature. The Challenge. 22 (2), 1-6. Mukherjee, M. (1971). The Twice Born Fiction: Themes and Techniques of Indian Novel in English. New Delhi: Arnold Heinemann, 168. Müller, K.B. (2015). Code-switching in Italo-Brazilian literature from Rio Grande do Sul and Sãu Paulo: A sociolinguistic analysis of the forms and functions of literary code-switching. Language and Literature. 24 (3), 249-263. Myers-Scotton, C. (1993). Social Motivations for Code-Switching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Rollason, C. (2006). Indian Writing in English: Some Language Issues and Translation Problems. Writers’ Meet: Jawaharlal Nehru University. 8 March 2006. Roy, A. (2002). The God of Small Things. New Delhi: Penguin. Salvador, D. S. (2007). “Translational Passages: Indian Fiction in English as Transcreation?” Conference paper. V Congreso Internacional de Traducción. Barcelona: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 7. Sarangi, J. (2005). Indian Novels in English: A Sociolinguistic Study. Bareilly: Prakash Book Depot. Schmeling, M. & Schmitz-Emans, M. (eds) (2002). Multilinguale Literatur im 20. Jahrhundert. Wurzburg, Konigshausen & Neumann. 386 Media Watch 8 (3)

Sebba, M. (2011). Multilingualism in Written Discourse: An Approach to the Analysis of Multilingual Texts (draft). Retrieved from on 7 Apr 2015 Sen, N. D. (1977). An Open Letter to Salman Rushdie. The Indian Magazine, August : 72, 17. Sundarsingh, J. (2009). Indianized English in Shashi Deshpande’s That Long Silence. Language in India. 9 (2): 69-88. Thorat, A. (2000). Five Great Indian Novels: A Discourse Analysis. New Delhi: Prestige Books. Timm, L. A. (1978). Code switching in WAR AND PEACE. In: M. Paradis (ed.) Aspects of Bilingualism. Columbia: Hornbeam, 302-315. Tylor, E.B. (1974). Primitive culture: researches into the development of mythology, philosophy, religion, art, and custom. New York, NY: Gordon Press, 1. First published in 1871. Warsi, M.J. (2004). Indianization of English media in India: An Overview. Language in India. 4 (8) August. Website: < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonbibi>

Dr. Sangeeta Mukherjee teaches English and Linguistics at Vellore Institute of Technology University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu (India). She is the author of the book titled, The Localization of English in Indian Contexts: A Linguistic Analysis of Kanthapura, The God of Small Things and The Hungry Tide. Her areas of research interest are: pragmatics, applied linguistics, Indian English literature, communication and film studies. 387 © Media Watch 8 (3) 388-400, 2017 ISSN 0976-0911 e-ISSN 2249-8818 DOI: 10.15655/mw/2017/v8i3/49144

Deconstruction of Symbols of Reality in Hindi Cinema: A Study on Calendar Girls and Haider

HARINATH KUMAR & GOVIND JI PANDEY Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, India

Hindi cinema has always been a better citation for Indian culture. Now it is an accepted proof for the changing scenarios of modern India. The cinema has shaped and portrayed Indian culture to the extent that the sixth art forms could ever achieve. Hindi cinema has a great influence on common man who sees the different symbols of daily life and culture constructed by cinema as real things present in their day-to-day life. Cinema does not only construct the symbols but also deconstruct it. The present research aims to trace and analyze the construction and deconstruction of different social, economic, and psychological symbols created over a period of time through many block buster films. To check this changing perspective of cinema for the society, two films namely ‘Calendar Girls’ and ‘Haider’ discussed in this paper. The focus of the study is on understanding the portrayal of women in Calendar Girls and terrorism in Haider.

Keywords: Deconstruction, representation, reality, symbols, Hindi cinema

A reality is constructed and truth is created in cinema. Representation of different ideology, identity, culture in cinema gives us in-depth information about social construct. It develops understanding among individuals within cultural boundaries. It creates understanding and bond among individuals within cultural boundaries. Through symbols and codes, cinema conveys our understanding of reality. Different elements of composition (narratives, script, metaphor, and sequence) are used in a way that audience takes different construct as real symbols. A film starts with a disclaimer that ‘all characters in the film are fictitious, any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.’ Cinema attempts to portray ‘real’ life incidences as larger than life representation of images which attract the audience. Hindi cinema has always presented things filled with cosmetic construct which attracted audience. Starting from silent films to talkies, there were dramatic changes in narratives, sequence, and metaphors. The early films of India were based on mythological and historical facts; primarily from Mahabharata and Ramayana. So, mythological content dominated the 1920s and 1930s. The late 1930s and 1940s films got changed in its narratives, scripts, sequence and metaphor. Cinematic treatments were also different in the period. The period of the 1930s and 1940s experienced many eminent film personalities like Debaki Bose, Chetan Anand, S.S. Vasan, Nitin Bose and many others who cameforth. They shaped Hindi cinema towards modernism. This is the period during which film like

Correspondence to: Harinath Kumar, Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow-226 025, India. E-mail: [email protected] 388 Media Watch 8 (3)

‘Achhut Kanya’ was made, the birth of modern Indian film industry took place around 1947. The period witnessed a remarkable and outstanding transformation of Hindi film industry (Paul, 2015). Some eminent filmmaker who made a mark in the Indian film industry as well as foreign film industry gave memorable films. Satyajit Ray and Vimal Roy made films on the survival and daily miseries of lower strata of the society. The historical and mythological subjects took a back seat, and the films with social messages began to dominate the industry. These films were based on themes such as prostitution, dowry, polygamy and other malpractices which were prevalent in the society (Paul, 2015). In the 1960s, new directors like Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, and others riveted on the problems of the common man. The period produced some excellent movies. These movies enabled the Indian film industry to book a screen in the international film scenario. Some films critic address this period as an accidental experiment with neo-realism borrowed from Italian cinema. There is no such period which can be treated as the realism of Hindi cinema, simultaneously it snakes in the period. This is also the period for classicism in Hindi cinema. Films like ‘Sujaata,’ ‘Madhumati,’ ‘Do Aankhen Barah Haath,’ etc. directed by veteran film makers presented social issues in a completely different style. The recent decade has not only been witnessing pastiche of modernism, and realism but producing another genre. In a nutshell, we can say that Hindi cinema has adopted the cinematic tools of modernism, realism, and classicism. In the economic front, capitalist flavor of polar and bipolar is dissolving. Multi polars of economic power are maintaining the world. Economic experts named it as ‘Late Capitalism.’ This ‘Late Capitalism’ has a direct kinship with post-modernism. Post-modern art and culture are replacing established norms and beliefs. It shows the dreams and spectator loves to see. Whatever people love to see are transferred into celluloid, be it love, affection, brutality, sexual excess or be news for entertainment. With this perspective let’s have a look at the elements and nature of post-modern conditions propagated by Hindi cinema that exist today. In some films of last decade has a blurred boundary between the ‘past’ and the ‘present’. The feelings of both history and art are observed at a time in a fragmented manner, often appearing as examples of pastiche. Sexual desires are not only visible but open to fulfil. Taboos about sex no longer exist. Pornographic elements, promiscuous and other sex-related taboos have emerged as open and explicit. In cinema, these elements are common now, and people love to watch it. Sex and desire has become a product. In this case, representation has become more important. The rise of consumerism is also another symptom of a post-modern situation. The repercussion of post-modernism makes a man feel isolated, alienated and detached from the society. In cinema, there are some key situations that portrays the post-modernity like anxiety, emotional disorder, a breakdown of family and marriage, etc. This is how the Hindi cinema deconstructs the existing reality1 Generally, these post-modern conditions can be observed in films released in recent. In some cases, director has nothing to do what is constructed by camera. Bollywood‘s aforementioned current impulse to repeat and recycle, to excessively express and visualize, to commercialise and self-commodify, to appropriate other cultural works and de-differentiate binaries or blur distinctions through such processes suggests that the cinema has acquired strikingly post-modern qualities (Wright, 2009). Despite being a highly debated and perplexing descriptive term, post-modernism can be seen in Hindi films as well as academic study in India. In film practices, it allows texts to inscribe and subvert common conventions. In addition it questions ideology, subjectivity, and historical knowledge, enabling us to reconsider the operations by which we both create and give meaning to our culture through representation. In doing so, it draws our attention 389 Hindi Cinema: Kumar & Pandey to individual films, consciously mimetic and anti-original qualities. Post-modernism creates a tension between politics and aesthetic. It shows closeness of art and politics. Thus, it can be said that post-modernist approach has enabled us with new reading strategies and different systems of interpreting films. Cinema is supposed to be mirror of the society. It constructs societal beliefs in such a way that reel world appears very real. People who regularly see cinematic constructs start believing it as real and very much part of their culture. The present study attempts to analyze new social construct in Hindi cinema. It therefore, attempts to analyze and deconstruct the symbols of new social beliefs and cultural practices depicted in Hindi cinema.

Literature Review

Deconstruction

The Chambers Dictionary defines deconstruction as: a method of critical analysis applied especially to literary texts, which questioning the ability of language to represent reality adequately, asserts that no text can have a fixed and stable meaning and that readers must eradicate all philosophical or other assumptions when approaching a text (Royle). Since this definition of ‘deconstruction’ has many dimensions and asks readers to eradicate all the earlier philosophical and other assumptions before approaching to deconstruct a text. How one could possibly ‘eradicate all assumptions,’ and not only eradicate them completely to understand meaning of a construct. One learns things from his or her surrounding and keeps it as a memory mark. While decoding meaning we use previous information for understanding the text given in cinema, but eradication of previous information as suggested by the Chambers Dictionary would not be possible as we draw meaning about any construct from existing information (Royle). The word ‘deconstruction’ was not included in the Chambers before 1993. It was around the time that ‘deconstruction’ enters in the language. In the 1989 new edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), deconstruction was defined as: (i) the action of undoing the construction of a thing and (ii) a method of critical analysis of philosophical and literary language which emphasizes the internal workings of language and conceptual systems, the relational quality of meaning, and the assumptions implicit in forms of expression (Royle). The Oxford definition is more inclusive and elaborate. The OED definition at least makes some indications about understanding the word. It draws attention to the fact that the word has a history and has different meanings: the older sense of ‘deconstruction’ as ‘undoing the construction of a thing’ was not sufficient to understand the term. Chambers sees deconstruction as a ‘method,’ whereas the Oxford English Dictionary defines it as ‘a strategy.’ The Chambers describes deconstruction as something that is ‘applied,’ whereas the Oxford English Dictionary defines it as an ‘analysis’ (Royle). But there are other ways in which their definitions are used by many social scientists. French philosopher Jacques Derrida (b. 1930), is one among many prominent persons who defined deconstruction which was directed towards exposing unquestioned metaphysical assumptions and internal contradictions in philosophical and literary language. Many others have written deconstructive texts, many others have contributed towards the continuing elaboration of what is called deconstruction, but Derrida remains the key figure for understanding about what deconstruction is (Royle).

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One of the writings Derrida has written on the subject of what is deconstruction is very useful for understanding the term. Derrida wrote a letter to his Japanese friend in which he flatly and simply declares: ‘Deconstruction is not a method and cannot be transformed into one’ (Derrida, 1991). He means that deconstruction is not a method that can be applied to, say, a literary text (or to a philosophical or any other text, including a dictionary, or to film or weaving or feminism or drugs or psychoanalysis or love, etcetera and so on) (Royle). Derrida is careful to avoid this term ‘method’ because it carries connotations of a procedural form of judgment. A thinker with a method has already decided how to proceed, is unable to give him or herself up to the matter of thought in hand, is a functionary of the criteria which structure his or her conceptual gestures. For Derrida, this is irresponsibility itself (Royle). When deconstruction first took hold (like a virus or parasite) in North American and Western European universities in the late 1970s and early 1980s, it was generally associated with the idea of a strategy concerned with conceptual oppositions (speech/ writing, presence/absence, inside/outside, and so on), and more particularly with acknowledging that such oppositions always entail a ‘violent hierarchy’ (Derrida, 1981).

What is a Reality?

Many philosopher believe and assert that the quest for reality is philosophy’s principal business. It is also apparent that scholars do not agree about what they attempt to convey when they use the term ‘reality’. Indeed their differences may be so acute that there is little hope of a settlement in this fundamental matter (Laird, 1942). In this regard, Metaphysics is the search for the real. It follows that the notion of reality is not the same as the idea of mere being or existence, for if the real were simply identical with whatever has been, there would be no occasion to search for it. A man to find the real would need only to open his eyes. Plainly, however, the word ‘reality’ is frequently used both in philosophy and elsewhere (Laird, 1942). This study, therefore, considers some of the main (and of the different) things that filmmakers mean to convey when they use it. German expressionist filmmakers define reality as entirely the creation of minds and wills.

Theoretical Framework

Approaches to Representation: The conceptual framework for various approaches to understanding the dimensions of representation enumerated here. Reflective Approach: Language is not merely for encoding and decoding, it has many aspects of original meaning. It expresses the feeling and the message of an encoder. In other words, it can be said that language is like a mirror which reflects everything that is shown to it. Specially in language, the representation reflects the reality of the messenger. There may be some challenges with the reflective approach, if language means a variety of things. Intentional Approach: Whatever a culture uses as shared and common code is called language. The meaning of this shared and common code is commonly understood. In the light of it, language reflects the commonly understood message or meaning. Sometimes, if someone intends to communicate different thing with the same common code, it creates a problem. Whatever the meaning author want to convey is called Intentional approach.

391 Hindi Cinema: Kumar & Pandey

Constructionist Approach: We know codes and signs govern a language. It means that language commonly understood rules and codes. It is language only that creates the understanding and bond between the individuals within a cultural boundary because a language is a common property in a shared culture. With these codes and symbols, we construct the representation of reality to communicate meaning for others. The language has only power to convey our concepts. Deconstructionist approach: Jacques Derrida coined the term ‘deconstruction.’ His original deconstruction concept meant something like conceptually decomposing the literary/ artistic work into separate components looking for items inside that subvert the explicit and original intention of the work, as a new way to analyze culture products. Ferrán Adriá (El Bulli restaurant) uses the term deconstruction in the sense of re-composition in a different way. The film is decomposed into its various elements (narrative, script, metaphors, sequences, etc.), using hypermedia for establishing links among the different elements, allowing the learner to do the opposite operation: the “re-composition.” This way back into the whole film takes place in the mind of the learner: the learner reconstructs the film in a way he could not have thought of before. When applied to film teaching, this approach allows for a deeper analysis and understanding of film masterpieces (Ibáñez & García Rueda). A Swiss and a well-known linguistic, Ferdinand De Saussure has given the theory of sign. This approach concentrates on the use of sign, signifier and signified in a language to create meaning. A sign is a combination of two elements: (i) signifier and, (ii) signified. When signs are put in a context according to some rules what we get is called signifier such as a cow. But when we read the word ‘cow,’ it is not a cow, but the image of the cow that is in our head that gets triggered. The picture of the cow in our head is called signified. The signifier and signified put together with certain rules create a language which through the process of representation produce meaning. All his thoughts were collected and put together by his students as ‘Course in General Linguistics’ in 1960. Ferdinand De Saussure particularly, while talking about the underlying rules of language, mentioned about: langue (the rules/system) and the utterances as parole. This is how the language is structured to produce meaning (Basu, n.d.). Claude Levi-Strauss was a cultural anthropologist studying customs, myths in culture, designs, and meanings. He came up with the concept of binary opposites. Say, for instance, the word ‘cold’ could be meaningful when we have the concept of ‘hot.’ So, what is not ‘cold’ is understood as what is ‘hot.’ He also analyzed the material signs such as clothes. Clothes are to cover the bodies. But they have other functions also. It signifies the elegance, fashion, times for a dress, etc. Therefore, in representation, we need to consider these binary opposites. We need to understand the signified could be signifiers having a deeper meaning or other signifieds (Basu, n.d.). Following the thesis of Saussure and Levi-Strauss, Roland Barthes has taken further the arguments and theorization of representation. Roland Barthes analyzed representation at two levels: (i) signifier and (ii) signified. The first aspect, i.e. analysis at the signifier’s level, he called denotation. The things or materials that are seen, have shapes, colours, etc., are the elements of denotation. For instance, by analyzing the shape, we can distinguish a coat from a shirt. The other level is the connotation level. This level of analysis answers questions like what is signified? What is really meant? Is the dress is for casual wearing or for a formal occasion or for a state reception, etc? Therefore, a representation can be analyzed at denotation as well as at connotation level. Taking this concept further in mythologies, Barthes emphasized that representation 392 Media Watch 8 (3) works more at the second level, i.e., connotation level or cultural level. We need to question the representations with a relentless question of ‘why’ till we satisfactorily decipher the full meaning of the representation. In his article ‘Myth Today’, he describes with examples how in modern times, many myths are constructed through representation to foreground the individual’s point of view on various issues in society. Jacques Derrida, another French philosopher, said that search for meaning is an unending process. He termed this process of searching for meaning as ‘Circle’ of meaning: ‘meaning of meaning of meaning’. The final meaning is thus put off forever. Thus the whole process was called deconstruction (Basu, n.d.). Michel Foucault was interested more on how representations develop a discourse for creating knowledge. Discourse is a process by which arguments and counter arguments create knowledge. He emphasized that the ultimate goal of representation is to build knowledge and knowledge creates power through discourses. He said all cultural practices (representations) have discursive elements which lead to knowledge. We have had a discussion concerning the historicity of this knowledge formation. The discourse happens within a historical time frame in a context. Foucault termed it as ‘regime of truth.’ For him, truth is created. It is of this world. There is an end of this regime of truth and is followed by a new regime of truth. He was also very straight forward about the center of power. He said that at each layer in the society, power resides. It does not percolate from top to bottom. It is more lateral than vertical. It exists in localized circuits. Foucault also discusses an issue called ‘subject’ in representation. The character, the issue and the visual in a representation is a subject in itself. It is something which is discussed. The beholder, the reader, the viewer is another subject who gives meaning or interprets what the meaning of the topic is. Therefore, the reader/viewer/beholder becomes part and parcel of the representation, and the presenter who presents the representation is also a subject as he/ she creates the ‘construction’ (representation) (Basu, n.d.). French post-modernist philosopher Jean-Francois Lyotard has advocated about representation as ‘truth’ creation mechanism. Lyotard propounded that such ‘truth,’ created (constructed) by representation, should be deconstructed to get to the underlying ideas, and these dominant ideas once discovered through deconstruction should be challenged. Only then the reality and veracity of the ‘truth’ can be established. Jean Baudrillard, a French philosopher who in his book Simulacra and Simulation talked about modern day representation. By simulacra, he meant that these are copies or depiction of those materials that have no original or have never had any original. In other words, these are constructed fakes. He said that the current time is full of symbols and signs. Simulacra is devoid of any originality. He further explains that all human feelings and experiences have been replaced with simulation such that we find in the virtual world. He pointed out that the media and current cultural trends have constructed such a false and an ideal environment. He has also termed this situation as hyper-reality. A reality is not made up of original things but of imitation (Basu, n.d.).

Objectives

The objectives of the study are to analyse the ways and the means through which Hindi cinema deconstruct the reality of societal belief and norms. The study also analyse the portrayal of modern cultural practices, changing symbols of family and different social relations, and reshaping social beliefs and norms by selected films.

393 Hindi Cinema: Kumar & Pandey Methodology

In film studies, deconstruction of reality as a field is relatively uncharted. In this case, study is not limited to a particular method but applies varieties of method to meet its objectives. Theoretically methodology needs to shift between structuralist and formalist. Semiotics and discourse analysis have been used to decode and deconstruct the symbols and code portrayed in selected films.

Research Design

The design of the study is exploratory; therefore, it employs semiotic analysis and discourse analysis as a primary method. The data for the study have been collected while watching selected films. From the other sources including research journals, historical biographies, textbooks have also been consulted. Since the film studies are very creative discipline, it cannot be confined to celluloid only. It evinces emotions and smells of society. The study limits itself to ‘Calendar Girls’ and ‘Haider’, the two films as primary sources of research.

Discussion

Calendar Girls

Small-town schemer Mayuri (Ruhi) from Rohtak, rebellious Paroma (Satarupa) from Kolkata, free-spirited Sharon (Kyra) from Goa, naive Nandita (Akansha) from Hyderabad and Pakistani Bollywood aspirant Nazneen (Avani) from London are ‘calendar girls’ for industrialist Kumar (Suhel), whose glamorous almanac, with itsy-bitsy bikinis and sprawling white sands, is ‘India’s symbol of success’. Shot by ace photographer Timmy (Rohit), the ladies wear lip-gloss, attitude and little else, dreaming of fame, love, and success (Das, 2015). Contrary to the director’s immature vision, this film is certified for adults only. The film begins with rushed character intros. When selected to be a calendar girl, Nazneen Malik (Avani Modi), a Pakistani settled in London bids Allah Hafiz to her boyfriend Inzamaam. He doesn’t mince his words in responding with, “You are going to become a bloody cheapo.” After finding their selection in Calendar Girls, all five girls rush to Mumbai for a shoot. Meanwhile, profiles of these five girls are presented to an industrialist (Suhel Seth). The girls are described as a bong bomb, a sassy lass, small town but big value. This film was marketed as realistic. Film maker Madhur Bhandarkar’s intensive research of a particular lifestyle is only a collection of stereotypes put together by scratching the surface (Mumbai Mirror, 2015). At one stage in the film, which up until then has been swimming in a sea of predictable clichés about the ‘glamour’ world, a spiky little plot-point yanks back our wandering attention: a ‘calendar girl’ attends a funeral, and her `fee’ for doing so is a couple of cool lakhs (Gupta, 2015). This is a moment. Each moment is milked and turned into an opportunity for publicity. When a famous person dies, a person struggling up the fame ladder needs to be in attendance. The next day there will be photos of the funeral, and you, yes you, will be seen surrounded by famous people. Then you will, by association, become famous (Gupta, 2015). Instead of real life inspired calendar girls shoot we see a non-stop show-reel of show-all, where the camera goes over, under, behind the ‘calendar girls,’ not an inch being spared (Gupta, 2015). It implies that dreaming for calendar girl shoot; a girl must be hot, easy, willing to compromise, ready to turn into a body to hang bikinis on, sleep boss way to the top, etc. 394 Media Watch 8 (3)

Calendar girls as proud achiever: When the girls got selected in the calendar girl shoot, they feel proud. This proud feeling has been composed in such way that while watching young lady also can feel proud. But what the result is, multiple painful ironies inherent in the situation the girls find themselves in: one gets pushed into VIP escort service, another into being a trophy wife, another into a honey trap between a greedy cricket match fixer and players, and others two surviving their life in the industries (Gupta, 2015). It hammers out the message that if you willingly become calendar girl, you will come to a sorry end. Therefore, girl stays at home, stay inside, or you will be forced into bed and breakfast service to men (Gupta, 2015). Victimization of women: Calendar Girls features five new female actors in the titular roles. In male dominating film industries, critics can take Madhur Bhandarkar for being one of the few men who dares to care about how women feel about their issues and what they say. This film portrays women as victim of a different class (Pillai, 2015). Madhur Bhandarkar has often expressed his happiness that more women-centric films are being made. He has long maintained that his stories come across better from a woman’s point of view and that is why the protagonists of his films – Chandni Bar, Satta, Page 3, Corporate, Fashion, and Heroine – have all been female (Pillai, 2015). But in Calendar Girl, the feminist zeal of Bhandarkar stops because all females are victims of circumstances that beyond their control. One of the girls alluded to in the title, a Lahore girl from London, is quickly reduced to poor girl who serves sex-starved politicians, industrialists, and diplomats. Another, a Hyderabad girl now married to a philandering jetsetter from a wealthy Jodhpur clan, lectures the former on “third-rate and characterless” escorts who sell their bodies and souls for money (Chatterjee, 2015). Cringe-worthy and laughable at once, such moments of pop wisdom are scattered all across the expanse of calendar girls. In a shrill and sketchy prelude, five leggy lasses from around the country hot foot it to Mumbai to participate in a coveted calendar shoot they believe will change their lives forever. It does. But nothing can reverse the film’s downhill course (Chatterjee, 2015). They can be described as victims who fail to overcome their misfortunes. Deconstructed social symbol in Calendar Girls: Is it possible that in India funeral attendant can be paid? If it is, it would be exceptional or rarest of rare. The ‘calendar girls’ is successful in conveying the message that if it is a time of struggle for an actor, she/he has better options to attend the funeral for the expenses. Further, the film adds that attending funeral gives free publicity for the struggling actor. Hyper reality of Calendar Girls: A hyper reality is seen in such condition where it was difficult to differentiate between fiction and reality. In other words, fiction and reality blend so that there is no significant distinction between where one begins and other ends (Wikipedia, 2016). In Hindi cinema, hyper reality is becoming a general element of film narratives. It can be seen in Calendar Girls in which five girls from different walks of life, dream the same to get in a shoot of high profile calendar in order to get entry in Bollywood. Their dream has minimum to match honour and prestige of India women.

Haider

Bollywood director Vishal Bhardwaj’s Indian adaptation of Hamlet has been hailed as “one of the most important movies of the year” (Pandey, 2014). Haider goes where Hindi cinema rarely strides. Bhardwaj and Kashmiri journalist Basharat Peer co-wrote the film’s screenplay and they must be praised for their courage to speak strongly about what is 395 Hindi Cinema: Kumar & Pandey happening in Kashmir. Haider goes beyond Bollywood’s Pakistan bashing for Kashmir’s troubles and speaks about the alleged atrocities of the Indian Army on Kashmiris. Haider jokes about ‘chutzpah’—pronounced as ‘chootspaa’ in the movie—and equates it to AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act, the security law which gives armed forces immunity from prosecution while operating in the militancy-hit areas but has been criticised by human rights groups) (Kaushal, 2014). The collaboration of Vishal Bharadwaj and Basharat Peer has resulted in a film wherein Bollywood conventions have been infused with a reporter’s sense of realism. There have been a few films that explored the Kashmir situation—Harud; Zero Bridge; the least political of all; Valley of Saints; there came Mission Kashmir is somewhat naïve take on the insurgency in Kashmir. But Vishal Bharadwaj’s Haider, has not just triggered the controversy portraying that uncomfortable picture but for the first time many Kashmiris are sharing a feeling of association with the movie (Modak & Roy, 2016). Deconstructed social symbol in Haider: When Haider Meer (Shahid Kapoor) comes back from his university where he does research, his mother Ghazala (Tabu) tells him about family devastation. Behind this ruins she alleged his father involvement with separatist. She claims to be half widow (Whose husband disappeared in war or any natural calamity called half widows). More interestingly, the Oedipus complex, a social symbol has been constructed to an extent that mother and son both are passionate for each other, while Oedipus complex defines males desire to possess the mother sexually and to exclude the father; said to be a source of personality disorders, if unresolved. Transforming empirical reality: The disparity between the phenomenal world and film is also expressed through another dominant paradigm of song and dance sequences. Unlike the song and dance sequences that are filmed in open space, detached from the bounded and constructed space in which the narrative unfolds. Despite the clear difference between the two paradigms of song and dance sequence, the number of spectacles also creates a dialogue between the empirical and the cinematic realities and eventually reflects similar hierarchy and elevation beyond the empirical one. This is achieved through a transformation of empirical reality, as represented in films, into a reality of spectacle, in which intensification occurs through the festive means of song and dance. The empirical becomes celebrated hyper reality. Hindi cinema layers the two realities while endowing the song and dance, the reality of the spectacle, the overtly artificial and affected, with a higher ontological status. This thematic also recurs in another narrative trope and visual imagery prevalent in Hindi film (Parciack, 2016).

Deconstructing the Reality Portrayed in Hindi Cinema

The commercial Hindi cinema that claims the portrayal of reality performs well on box office in terms of collections. Hindi cinema understands reality as a resemblance of a real incident in the sense of representation. Bollywood know ‘composition creates the meaning,’ it uses reality as merely input ingredients for the composition. In other words, it manipulates the reality. Here reality does only not mean facts and figure but social beliefs, norms, acceptance of relations and symbols of relations.

Deconstructing Social Beliefs in Hindi Cinema

India is changing rapidly and in the last twenty years following liberalization in 1991 social and economic transformation have been occurring at an unprecedented speed. Long 396 Media Watch 8 (3) acknowledged as one of the world’s greatest and most ancient civilizations, and notorious too for being home to many of its poorest people, Indian now enjoys a new and unaccustomed role as a potential emerging superpower and is producing some of the planet’s richest individuals and one of its largest middle class. These changes have been so rapid and so pervasive that their impact can barely, as yet, be understood. While journalist and other writers have examined these transformations, tracing their causes and their impact in the social, political and economic realm, it remains difficult to know how people have adapted to the changes, how they interpret them, what their hopes and fears are how they see their future and how they look at their pasts (Dwyer, 2014). There are certain social beliefs in society. It differs only geographically. Bollywood is expert in making and constructing social beliefs. As Cinema is the mirror of society, it must reflect the social beliefs and norms. But it doesn’t mean that it begin to construct the new belief. Hindi cinema does so in ways that often eschew the values of realism. It emphasizes the role of the imagination, suggesting that cinema plays a highly significant role in creating a way of comprehending the way society is and how it should be. This way of thinking about society is also a way of looking at India (Dwyer, 2014).

Deconstructing Acceptance of Relations and Symbols of Relations

Hindi cinema has seen the changing and shifting role of women from beginning to never end journey. Be it Mother India, Mirch Masala or be it Chandani Bar, the female characters are a protagonist. Indian Bengali feature film ‘Parama’ (1984) directed by Aparna Sen reportedly noticed first time portraying women on the path of promiscuity. In the same time, the directors like Deepa Mehta, Mira Nair, and Meghna Gulzar were upright enough to portray ‘taboo topics’ like lesbianism, promiscuity, polygamy and surrogate motherhood. Films like ‘Fire’ and ‘Kamasutra’ depict women brave world to explore their sexual desire. In the same row, there is one more Bengali film ‘Shunyo-e-buke’ directed by Koushik Ganguly. In this film, a female is in lead role and she is flat chested women of 21st century. She questions the base of judging the worth of women generally by her cleavage.

Conclusion

After going through the films, this study has arrived at the point that Hindi cinema celebrates and exploit its own cinematic conventions. In other word, cinema dismantles the modes of representation. The findings on the basis of selected films are not enough to generalize but enough to say that social and cultural practices are manipulated for the sake of filmmaking and its commercial ends. These films claim that the tension between modernity and tradition has been portrayed. On the basis of selected sample, we can conclude that popular Hindi films deconstruct notions of realism. The divide between non-fiction and fantasy is dissolved innovatively in Hindi cinema.For long, women in Hindi cinema has been a sacred object trying to protect her virginity and her only job in the film was to offer supreme sacrifice if anything goes against her loved ones. Off late the society has witnessed many changes and women took different roles in house hold as well as at work place which forced the artists to present women in different roles. The Calendar Girls is about the portrayal of women and Haider is about the portrayal of terrorism and rotten state. Both the issues are important as films construct new symbols for women which help us in understanding the changing face of women in cinema. Similarly, terrorism is hurting India like anything and many films in the past have tried to portray the issue in many different ways. If, ‘Roja’ was a portrayal of terrorism 397 Hindi Cinema: Kumar & Pandey through a romantic story then ‘Wednesday’ presented the harsh reality of terrorism and answer of common man through his counter terrorism actions. At one point of view, both Vishal Bhardwaj and Madhur Bhandarkar claim to portray the reality of the existing society in India. In a feminist approach Madhur Bhandarkar goes and Bhardwaj goes politically and socially tilted approach. Both construct the reality in celluloid manner. Bhandarkar constructs his women characters as the elite victim of patriarchy in spite of being free, while Bhardwaj constructs social belief in order to satire on the government imposed law

Note 1When a camera is positioned, it captured the constructed reality. Reality varies person to person.

References

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Pandey, V. (2014, October 7). BBC. Retrieved June 2016, from BBC news: http:// www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-29502393 Parciack, R. (2016). Popular Hindi Cinema: Aesthetic formations of the seen and unseen. Routledge. Paul, S. (2015, September 9). MapsofIndia. Retrieved June 12, 2017, from http:// www.mapsofindia.com: http://www.mapsofindia.com/my-india/history/history-of- indian-cinema Pillai, P. (2015, September 24). Indian Express. Retrieved June 28, 2016, from www.indianexpress.com: http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/ bollywood/madhur-bhandarkar-how-not-to-make-women-centric-films/ Reynolds, J. (n.d.). Internet Encyclopedia of philosophy. Retrieved June 23, 2016, from www.iep.utm.edu: http://www.iep.utm.edu/derrida/ Royle, N. (n.d.). What is Deconstruction? Vishal Bhardwaj, S. R. (Producer), & Bhardwaj, V. (Director). (2014). Haider [Motion Picture]. India. Wikipedia. (2016, June 9). Wikipedia. Retrieved June 23, 2016, from www.wikipedia.org: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperreality Wright, N. S. (2009). Bollywood Eclipsed: The Postmodern Aesthetics, Scholarly Appeal and Remaking of Contemporary Popular Indian Cinema. University of Sussex. Filmography 1-Ahir, S. (Producer), Bhandarkar, M. (Writer), & Bhandarkar, M. (Director). (2014). Calendar Girls [Motion Picture]. India: Hi-5 Entertainments LLP. Basu, S. (n.d.). An introduction to theory of representation. Retrieved from epgpathshala: http://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/ahl.php?csrno=456 Chatterjee, S. (2015, September 25). NDTV MOVIES. Retrieved June 28, 2016, from www.movies.ndtv.com: http://movies.ndtv.com/movie-reviews/calendar-girls- movie-review-1178 Das, S. M. (2015, September 25). Times of India. Retrieved June 28, 2016, from www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ entertainment/hindi/movie-reviews/Calendar-Girls/movie-review/ 49104811.cms?tabtype=spoiler Derrida, J. (1981). Positions. (A. Bass, Trans.) London: Athlone Press. Derrida, J. (1981). Positions. London: Athlone Press. Derrida, J. (1991). Letter to a Japanese Friend. (P. Kamuf, Ed., & D. W. Benjamin, Trans.) Dwyer, R. (2014). Bollywood’s India: Hindi Cinema as a Guide to Contemporary India. London: Reaktion Books Ltd. Gupta, S. (2015, September 26). Indain Express. Retrieved June 28, 2016, from www.indianexpress.com: http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie- review/calendar-girls-movie-review/ Ibáñez, G., & García Rueda, J. (n.d.). Deconstructing films: New ways to teach cinema using hypermedia tools. Madriad, Spain: Carlos III University of Madriad. Kaushal, S. (2014, October 5). hindustantimes. Retrieved June 2016, from hindiustantimes.com: http://www.hindustantimes.com/movie-reviews/movie- review-haider-is-a-rare-bollywood-gem-you-shouldn-t-miss/story- O4Q9jluqYxj0ixIA35CyAM.html Laird, J. (1942, July). Reality. Mind, LI(203), 244-258.

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Modak, P., & Roy, S. (2016). Studying Vishal Bhardwaj’s Haider : A Third World Reading of Shakespeare’s Magnum opus. Daath Voyage: An International Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in English, 1(Special issue), 159. Retrieved June 2016, from www.daathvoyagejournal.com Mumbai Mirror. (2015, September 25). Retrieved June 28, 2016, from http:// timesofindia.indiatimes.com: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ entertainment/hindi/movie-reviews/Calendar-Girls/movie-review/ 49104811.cms?tabtype=spoiler Pandey, V. (2014, October 7). BBC. Retrieved June 2016, from BBC news: http:// www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-29502393 Parciack, R. (2016). Popular Hindi Cinema: Aesthetic formations of the seen and unseen. Routledge. Paul, S. (2015, September 9). MapsofIndia. Retrieved June 12, 2017, from http:// www.mapsofindia.com: http://www.mapsofindia.com/my-india/history/history-of- indian-cinema Pillai, P. (2015, September 24). Indian Express. Retrieved June 28, 2016, from www.indianexpress.com: http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/ bollywood/madhur-bhandarkar-how-not-to-make-women-centric-films/ Reynolds, J. (n.d.). Internet Encyclopedia of philosophy. Retrieved June 23, 2016, from www.iep.utm.edu: http://www.iep.utm.edu/derrida/ Royle, N. (n.d.). What is Deconstruction? Vishal Bhardwaj, S. R. (Producer), & Bhardwaj, V. (Director). (2014). Haider [Motion Picture]. India. Wikipedia. (2016, June 9). Wikipedia. Retrieved June 23, 2016, from www.wikipedia.org: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperreality Wright, N. S. (2009). Bollywood Eclipsed: The Postmodern Aesthetics, Scholarly Appeal and Remaking of Contemporary Popular Indian Cinema. University of Sussex.

Harinath Kumar is a reseach scholar in the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism at Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, India. His research interest is: Film studies and media research. Dr. Govind Ji Pandey is a professor in the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism at Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, India. His research interests are: Film studies and electronic media. 400 © Media Watch 8 (3) 401-412, 2017 ISSN 0976-0911 e-ISSN 2249-8818 DOI: 10.15655/mw/2017/v8i3/49150

Dilution of Social Media Privacy: Security Vulnerabilities and Psychological Implications

RATNAKIRTI ROY & DIPJYOTI DAS Inspiria Knowledge Campus, India

In the contemporary society, Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and Instagram are not merely words, but are synonymous to a person’s identity. Though the extensive use of social media is capable of rendering a huge amount of benefits in terms of ease of communication, lightening marketing reach and so on, the graver sides of the same requires thorough research to evaluate its role in modelling the psychological structure of the society and the possible threats it poses to the new generation who are glued to the use of social media platforms on a daily basis. This paper aims to perform a deep dive into the psychological effects of social media platforms on the young population and attempts to experimentally relate the same with dilution of social media privacy as a possible side effect. At the same time, possible alternatives and corrective measures to such a problem are also suggested.

Keywords: Digital communication, social media, social space, privacy infringement, social identity

In this era of advanced communication technology, social media has emerged as the most popular forum, intended to promote and accelerate human interaction and socialise with greater effectivity and efficiency. It not only facilitates rapid dissemination of wide range of information and messages but has also transformed our lives into an augmented virtual reality. They are designed to encourage the sharing of various information, views, pictures and videos which helps to expand our social space within the periphery of the online world. The digital world has brought the entire globe together, enriched our personal life, and professional relationships, and even made us more productive. Yet with data breaches, identity theft, the sharing of personal information by service providers on the rise, such considerations are set to shape our future relationship with the connected world in which we live. The privacy and security issue is a matter of great concern although it may not arise in the minds of the normal netizens who are in constantly accessing the social media for performing various social activities with numerous known and unknown persons. The current research focuses primarily on finding out the privacy concerns associated with the use of social network and their direct and indirect effects on the society. Since the use of social media encompasses almost all dimensions of the human behavioural pattern, there are many people who unknowingly or sub-consciously allow predators on the social web to trespass their privacy. Such a breach not only can bring enormous financial losses but can also inflict massive damage to one’s perception, identity and acceptance. Not only this, the younger generation who are the most ardent users of the

Correspondence to: Ratnakirti Roy, Department of Computer Applications, Inspiria Knowledge Campus, Siliguri-734 010, West Bengal, India. Email: [email protected] 401 Social Media: Roy & Das social media platform are gradually drifting away from being social and a good many of them tend to suffer from a dual identity crisis. Surprisingly, all these effects, linked to the uncontrolled use of the social networks can also be related suitably with privacy infringement over the web. A survey performed on a suitable sample of population, mostly youngsters reveal how sub-consciously the social media has become a platform for indirect, inadvertent (as well as deliberate) personal privacy breaches and dilution of social space. Such a survey also reveals how such breaches can negatively affect relationships, social identity and overall behaviour patterns of the youth. This paper not only analytically presents the trends but also tries to pave a path towards finding a practical and applicable solution to the problems associated with privacy over social media and its effects so that the technological breakthroughs in designing social networks can be really used to reap the benefits in a sustainable manner, helpful in the advancement and holistic betterment of the society.

Scope of the Study

The frequent breaching of security and lack of privacy measures has been a matter of concern and discussion among various research studies and analysis. Are we really concerned about security and privacy while accessing and sharing information over the social media platforms? Is it a matter of priority to address this sensitive issue with great care and in-depth study? Analysing the online users attitude and behavioural traits relating to the matter may be of great help in unfolding this complex issue as in spite of the prevailing problems, the net users especially youngsters doesn’t seem to reduce or decrease the usage of the digital platform. They constantly spend a huge amount of time in the digital world sharing and interacting with peers and friends which often expands to strangers whom we encounter deliberately or inadvertently. A normal interaction is perfectly acceptable in any forum, as we often practice such activity in real life taking into account various factors and circumstances to maintain privacy. However, the danger arises when we disclose confidential information and data to a person who is generally anonymous or sometimes fake and has malicious objective. We fall victims to such threats which results in adverse consequences. The greatest concern is how the privacy settings are managed and structured in order to maintain security and safety of a Social networking site (SNS). There is a sense that majority of the internet users are nonchalant or lack the understanding of how their personal data is actually being used in the modern digital world especially the social networking sites. The contribution of technology in this aspect can be a major factor taken into consideration while we are analysing and studying the various factors of the issue. Since all the activities performed are over the digital platform, we also need to emphasize on the role played by technology in not only creating such forums to assist in social interaction and communication digitally but also try and build mechanism or suggest remedies whereby any loopholes and limitations can be eliminated to ensure privacy and security of an individual within the periphery of the social media.

Social Media Privacy: Emerging Trends

With the ever increasing popularity of the digital world, it is not a secret anymore that users devote a major portion of their daily life to connect with a huge network of known and unknown people. It has evolved into an addiction which enables them to connect with 402 Media Watch 8 (3) their friends, colleagues and acquaintances, sometimes even with individuals who may be complete strangers unaware of the potential dangers. It helps them to keep in touch with them often round the clock irrespective of the proximity and time. However access to personal information depends on the privacy settings offered by the respective social media sites. There is apparently no potential danger in giving personal facts with proper security settings to ensure privacy. But the fact of the matter is how much of attention is paid to this sensitive issue by the respective social media users are worth exploring. The interesting fact is that a very little knowledge is required to create a profile and get started. Increasing amount of information is being shared by the users in attempt to increase social visibility and identity. Majority of the users do not change the default privacy settings or are not aware about the importance it relates to their profile. It is always advisable to ensure security of the profile in order to avoid any risk of being hacked with malicious intent or harassment. Without doubt, the social media platform is interactive and vast, provides enormous opportunity with greater speed and convenience compared to any other medium, but preventive measures and awareness have to be maintained in order to create an environment of safety and certainty. The very nature of the medium which persuades and promotes sharing of personal information in order to garner maximum social engagement and traffic within the virtual world makes an individual vulnerable to expose his personal information in the public domain without any perceptible knowledge about the possible consequences. Majority of the youngsters spends an ample amount of time chatting with friends in SNS. Accepting friend requests from strangers and gradually interacting with them is a very common phenomena in the social networking sites like Facebook. The human behaviour or tendency to incline towards an informal conversation with his or her counterpart is quite a natural occurrence. The very reason for this act is very fascinating to explore and understand. Humans are social beings afraid to reside in isolation and loneliness with a constant urge of social interaction and presence within a particular community or forum. A fast faced modernised urban life has left many in isolation from the near and dear ones. Hence, completely alienated from the real world. They often look out for friends and acquaintances with whom they can socialize and interact. Each and every individual craves for a social identity and engagement and consequently looks for platforms to re-engage and establish the socialisation process. This perception itself leads to belief that an alternative platform like the SNS provides the opportunity to eliminate this aspect of abandonment and rejection. However, chatting with a complete stranger over the SNS is very casual by nature. But the conversation eventually leads to sharing of extremely personal information as evident in many of the interaction in SNS. There have been several reports of popular social networking sites being effected by privacy issues and they are continuously updating their security mechanism. A very option would be to close down the account or change the privacy settings when there is a security breach. However that does not necessarily mean the account is safe and secure. When one signs up for the first time supposedly in Facebook for example (reminiscent of opening a gmail account) some of the basic information to be disclosed by the user are name, age, sex, occupation, address etc. Apparently all these information may seem extremely harmless. But the question arises that at this point is why we are supposed to provide these facts to friends who are known to us and they are completely aware about us. In spite of this why are we compelled to provide such information? The argument can be drawn as to maintain the authenticity of the profile by the respective SNS to curb the menace of anonymity and fake account. Again it can be subject to scrutiny the entire 403 Social Media: Roy & Das purpose of this information sharing when is it vulnerable to be compromised. It is believed that SNS are designed to make new friends, get in touch with long lost friends, and also facilitate in professional growth as well. Actually it would be unacceptable if we draw to a conclusion that net users are least bothered about privacy issues. The primary purpose of its usage is to reach and interact with the massive world digitally. But while doing so are we aware of the dangers and threats and the privacy claims made by the SNS?, are they sufficient enough to keep one’s profile and account safe and secured? A look at the huge directory of the users constantly accessing the sites for various purposes are least bothered about safety measures being provided by the sites and it seems to rapidly accumulate the number of users, raising contradictory questions about the privacy issue. A major psychological and behavioural pattern can be noticed which arises serious question about the nature of human conduct in respect to the online social world. The tremendous spurt in the online forum is contributed to the advent of the interactive social media platforms that offers a scope of greater connectivity in this virtual world almost any time of the day. Social networking sites stimulate the net users to use their real identities to make a profile in Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. The netizens are constantly in touch with their near and dear ones through the digital platform. In social media sharing of information and posts, tagging of photos and videos, which also includes updating of day to day activities is a common trend. It has been observed people are more comfortable sharing information online rather than personally with the concerned individual. The dependency on the sites to socialise has grown. The evolution of the online forum has greatly affected our communication process. The behavioral pattern of the users are revealed through the analysis of the information and it has been determined that the major factor contributing to this symptom revolves around hobbies and interests although it may have several other dimensions. A keen observation of the behavioural pattern of the social media users reveal that the apparent openness of the users of the social networking sites often attracts attention from adversaries with high possibility of being led to online victimization. It is quite easy to register for a social networking site but without correct knowledge of the security measures, it is easier to be trapped by third parties such as online criminals and hackers (Gangopadhyay & Dhar, 2014).

Privacy Concern and Identity Threats

There is a growing tendency among the young brigade to socialise over the digital world because it’s easier, convenient and faster. As one of the noted studies in the related domain points out, with almost 1.5 billion users active of Facebook, followed by 340 million with Google+ and a whopping 280 million Twitteratis, social networks has revolutionized the way people communicate from interpersonal communication to mass media communication. People have the freedom to talk to anybody regardless of their mutual know each other. However, the concern with social media is how genuinely they keep users’ privacy in private. There are a multitude of possibilities that may lead to privacy of a social network user be compromised : unintended release of private information due to poorly understood defaults, accidental data exposure, unintentional use of private data for organizational marketing and so on (Chewae et al., 2015). Although there may be several other factors contributing to this emerging trend within the online community. As soon as individuals share information with their online social networks, they no longer have sole control over the information, but must rely on others for privacy protection. There is a strange phenomenon among the young net users, inspite of an increase in sensitivity of the privacy issue, the social media users rarely 404 Media Watch 8 (3) change behaviour even if they encounter a major mishap relating to infringement of social space. For e.g. Facebook encourages users to create profile by giving authentic details under the default settings which can then be accessed by friends, friends of friends and almost everyone present in the forum which makes it vulnerable under several grounds and can have severe consequences. However there are a large section of young digital population who simply don’t bother about the privacy settings and the need to make the necessary changes in order to ensure privacy and also how much of the personal information should be visible and shared with the people accessing the concerned person’s profile. The question arises are they not aware or simply ignorant or is there a degree of careless approach developed among the youngsters of sharing as much information as possible among their peer groups like posting pictures or selfies or updating relationship status. This is clearly a paradigm shift in many ways, because privacy is not just about the individual anymore but also a well-coordinated and collaborative process (Jia & Xu, 2016). The digital world has made it extremely convenient for most of the net consumers especially among youths and adults to find like-minded individuals to communicate and self-express in spite of the prevailing threats. It has opened up a plethora of opportunities to discuss and share information with other users who has a common interest such as photos, likes, dislikes, interests, relationship status, job details, current town details, political views, religious views etc. Majority of the users are not aware of the privacy risks associated with the technology whenever they are sharing sensitive information online. The constant changes in the security and privacy measures by the social networking sites also make it extremely difficult for a layman to understand and get familiar with the various options available at their discretion with minimum knowledge. According to consumer security risks survey 2014, done by B2B International in conjunction with Kaspersky Lab, shows that even using social networking is worldwide, there are minority of them understanding the risks of using social networking especially in terms of using mobile device to access the sites. More than 78 per cent of correspondents did not express concern about their information being targeted by cyberattacks and they perceive nothing dangerous with any activities on their social network. The survey also found that 10 per cent has ever conversed to anonymous person about personal Information, whereas 15per cent have sent personal information which has not been exposed anywhere before through social network. Furthermore, 12 per cent of correspondents used public wi-fi to fill online account information, but only 18per cent of them were concerned that their personal information disclosure is excessive and 7per cent seriously considered their communicating through social networking as one of the major factors through which information might be compromised (Chewae et al., 2015). In an example, a teenager was chatting with one of her unknown friends in Facebook. Her informal attitude leads to her account being hacked. The unknown stranger with whom the girl was chatting forwarded her a link and requested to watch an interesting video. The young girl obliged and the page that opened looked reminiscent of the login in page of the Facebook. The difference was that the duplicate page was hosted by some other webpage and not Facebook. The young girl was then asked to enter details about her username and password to access what is there in the new page. It was just a trick to collect the username and password of the girl to hack her account. The account was hacked and all her personal information, messages, posts and data were infiltrated. Few minutes later one of her friend informed about the strange updates and vulgar posts and comments in her account. She realised that her account had been hacked and the username and the password had been changed which meant she was unable to access her account and inform her friends about

405 Social Media: Roy & Das the actual story. The malice doesn’t end here as her Facebook friends continue to receive similar requests of visiting a site and fall prey to watching the videos or images. The very act of being persuaded by a stranger and being tempted to explore an unknown territory itself is a unique behavioural pattern especially among the youths who are mostly nonchalant about the potential hazards of such malice intents. The most absorbing fact is also the trust and faith which is gradually developed over a very short period of time by a stranger who creates an environment of credibility to fulfil his or her evil intentions. We are easily convinced by a stranger’s words and expressions which are shared over the virtual medium and don’t possess any authenticity whatsoever. It is highly susceptible that the person may not exist in real or may be a totally different person with a different identity or a fake profile whose sole purpose is to execute social privacy infringement. It is again a matter of debate and discussion why do individuals behave in such strange manner over the SNS whereas in real life we are completely ignorant about a stranger when he approaches without any formal intimation and procedure. A general perception is to maintain a safe distance and keep everything confidential. A complete U-turn is observed in the SNS where everyone is freely interacting and socialising on range of topics and issues including personal matters without pondering over the consequences which can be dangerous. It is thereby advisable not to trust strangers in the digital forum irrespective of the individuals’ whereabouts and information mentioned and frequent changing of passwords is a viable option to keep the accounts safe. In SNS like Facebook, it is very common to receive “likes” and “comments” when a user updates any post or picture or status. The very purpose of sharing any information over the SNS is to engage the person concerned friend’s and stimulate a healthy conversation. There is nothing wrong in posting or sharing comments. However, it has been revealed that people start chatting with general comments and gradually many confidential things regarding any particular topic or person is made public knowingly or unknowingly. A mere like to a picture or a response to a post may seem completely innocent and rational. However the series of discussions which flows from a particular post or a comment is an interesting observation. The comments which may be completely irrational in the real world can be easily uploaded and shared in the digital forum. It is also accepted in the virtual world without much objection which raises the question again on the behavioural pattern of the SNS community and individuals accessing such forums. But leaking of facts and information is also prevalent like one instance where a young non-governmental organisation (NGO) worker shared pictures of one of the charity events of his organisation. Likes and comments poured in and what seemed a random post gradually transformed into a forum where during the course of chatting in the comment section, the young lad unknowingly revealed many confidential matters of his organisation. It was completely unintentional on his part but it obviously had a negative impact on his career as he was labelled irresponsible. The review of the entire incident clearly highlights the fact a individual is prone to reveal materials in flow of interaction unknowingly over SNS without even realising what actually may be the ultimate result in the end which can be detrimental. Such instances are common and makes a case for serious introspection of how individuals behave under certain circumstances and differently otherwise. So, it’s extremely important to exercise caution before writing anything on the open public forum because the sequence of comments can ultimately lead to unwanted exposure of information which can be potentially harmful.

406 Media Watch 8 (3)

Psychological Impact of Social Networks: Dilution of Privacy

Not too long ago, a girl in her early twenties was teased relentlessly by her sister when she revealed her strategies of deriving the best possible feedback for her picture posts on Facebook. There were date basics stating which days of the week to avoid pictures being posted and also sensitivity to time zones. Nevertheless, attention to Facebook’s algorithms for sharing information was also given due importance. Though it sounds ridiculous at the beginning but it does sparks a few important questions like why in the world did one care so much about an un-liked photo? When and how did Facebook responses become such valued social currency? For better or for worse, she was hardly alone in her experience. Recent research concludes that technology and SNS have contributed largely to a growing obsession among youth towards impression management and self-portrayal online. Whether it is searching for the perfect photo to be uploaded to Instagram using filters, updating Facebook status or carefully crafting a humblebrag, there is an extremely increasing tendency among the users to adopt different selective strategies to portray an “ideal self” through the social media network (Chou & Edge, 2012; Manago, Graham, Greenfield, & Salimkhan, 2008). If the social media behaviour of ourselves and that of the others be observed, it becomes increasingly interesting to evaluate the psychological consequences of our increased online presence. Put simply, is our relationship with the social media healthy? When considering the potential negative effects of social media, there appear to be risks associated with certain types of online activity, rather than SNS usage at large. For example, social media use can be greatly maladaptive when it is in the form of inactive or passive browsing. People spending considerable time on sites like Facebook and Instagram exclusively browsing through their news feed and looking at others posts, pictures and profiles, it can trigger a sense of exclusion, jealousy, as well as acute cases of loneliness (Krasnova, Wenninger, Widjaja, & Buxmann, 2013). Such a sort of unintended or psychologically driven online surveillance activity can result in emoting feelings of inadequacy or jealousy in relationships, especially among people who subject themselves to stalking their ex-boyfriends or girlfriends on social media (Marshall, 2012; Muise, Christofides, Desmarais, 2009). Similarly, in friendships, extensive invasion of others’ profiles may lead to a syndrome called the fear of missing out where an individual feels emotionally intimidated by the slightest sight of pictures of a friends’ party where he/she was not invited (Przybylski, Murayama, DeHaan, & Gladwell, 2013). On social media platforms like Facebook, people often engage in social comparison which can be traced back to be a leading cause of mental distress. As an example, it has been observed that viewing profile pictures of attractive people can provoke more negative emotions than viewing photos of comparatively less attractive ones. Not only this, more photo related activities on Facebook are related to body disturbances in teen girls (Meier &Gray, 2014). Social comparison on social networking sites, under certain circumstances, can be associated with mental abnormalities too. In a recent study of adolescents, Nesi and Prinstein (2015) link technology-influenced “social comparison and feedback-seeking” (SCFS) in the development of symptoms of depression. It was found that adolescents who were more engaged in behavioural practices linked to social comparison and feedback-seeking online experienced greater symptoms of depression. This was more prevalent among females and students who were in general less popular in school. Given that profiles of majority of social networking websites often portray over exaggerated information about the users in the form of pictures, responses to posts and so on, teenagers who engage in social comparison in the cyber space may feel like “everyone else is happier than me”. 407 Social Media: Roy & Das

In this context, we argue that both the positive psychological aspects of the social networking sites such as Facebook and the depressive psychological symptoms induced by the same have nearly equal possibilities of directly or indirectly forcing users to divulge their confidential private information to many potent predators on the social network. To validate this claim, a survey was performed with a large number of respondentsin the age group 17–45 years. The respondents were asked questions pertaining to their social media usage habits and their awareness about the security issues over the social networking sites. The survey revealed that Facebook is one of the most preferred social media platforms among the youth, followed by WhatsApp and Instagram. A significant finding was that 60per cent of the sample population remain logged in to some form of social media for more than 6 hours in a day and therefore it is evident that these form the most vulnerable group who are possible victims of privacy dilution and security threats. The respondents on being questioned further revealed interesting figures in terms of the security awareness, objective of social presence and victimization over social network sites. A whopping 90per cent of the sample claimed to be aware of the privacy issues and ways to protect privacy over social networks while a similar percentage of people used social media for friendship and for increased social presence. As mentioned previously, social media platforms can create illusion of increased popularity in the society and therefore may pose an indirect threat to personal privacy by trading personal information for popularity. Such a claim is backed by the results of the survey which further revealed that more than 30per cent of the respondents did interact with strangers on the basis of their looks and images in the respective profiles. On being asked about the psychological aspects, 55per cent of the population agreed that on being extensively used, social networking platforms can control an individual’s behavioural pattern, especially during emotionally demanding moments of joy or distress. This is an important observation as because these groups are vulnerable to predators who can use the features of the social networking media as a bait to convince users to divulge their personal information over the air. According to a respondent,

“…It depends on the person’s communication skill. If the person is too good to manipulate the other person by his/her way of texting or replying he/she can easily make them reveal their personal information…”

Such a claim is supported by the results of the survey which reveals that through a large number of people were aware of the security issues over the SNS and had taken requisite measures to protect their privacy, a significant 28per cent of them were victims of privacy breach and had suffered humiliation, abuse (verbal or sexual) and bullying over the social media. This is a strong proof in favour to the claims made earlier regarding the ability of social media to directly or indirectly influence the psychological behavioural pattern of an individual. As said by one of the respondents who was a victim of such a privacy breach,

“…Had I been in my senses I would not have been victimized over anything. It is definitely due to my negligence I would be victimized…”

Another young girl responded on similar lines as, “…Because, the person who was my friend did all that… he was in my friend list too. We can never know, how the next person thinks about us even in our friend circle…” 408 Media Watch 8 (3)

Such responses trigger the alarm that an increasing desire of creating an ideal self- identity over social network sites in a short time can lead to dangerous consequences in the societal structure and on the emotional framework of young people who use social media to inculcate their feelings, emotions to a large extent. Such modelling of their behavioural patterns make them more predictable and susceptible to emotional setbacks and shocks. As some of the student respondents who were questioned on the effects of privacy dilution over social media said,

“…It is a mental torture. Yes, there has been friends of mine whose behaviour were severely affected. Also, the victims think there life is at stake…” and “…I was not aware of this incident…then a classmate of mine who is also an active Instagram user saw those pictures and informed me… initially I was very upset, I was broken… then I understood that it all happened due to my negligence. Though those pictures were not mine still they held very vulgar content…”

Such findings clearly indicate the threats and vulnerabilities that exist in the over- usage of social media to share information are not be ignored. As it cannot be denied that social media is an extremely powerful platform to reach out to people, it is important to devise a framework that might help the young people as well as anybody else to reap the benefits of the upgraded technological boon yet not finding themselves amidst a privacy breach compromising their emotional and social security.

Towards a Safe and Secure Social Media Usage

Before it can be concluded that it’s high time that you deactivate your profiles on Facebook/ Instagram/Twitter, it is also of extreme worth to acknowledge the benefits of social media to our psychological health. Facebook in particular provides opportunities for increased digital presence, increased communication, social interaction and also identity development. Utilizing Facebook for certain types of communication among college students have revealed its role in strengthening social ties with recently introduced classmates (Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007). Facebook also serves as a trusted platform to maintain pre-existing/ long distance relationships and strengthen close friendships and family ties through innovative expressions of love and intimacy (e.g. photo sharing, wall posting, emoticons, post tagging; Watkins & Lee, 2010). In case of identity development and mental health, research outcomes suggest that positive feedback on social media resulted in increased self-esteem and sense of general well-being among youth (Valkenburg, Peter & Schouten, 2006).Similarly, it was also interesting to figure out that college students who are the heaviest Facebook users showed greater signs of being satisfied with their lives and also exhibited greater social engagement (Valenzuela, Park, & Kee, 2009). Not only this, few studies have even confirmed that gazing at one’s own profile for just several minutes can result in significant surge in self-esteem as well as self-affirmation (Gonzales & Hancock, 2011; Toma & Hancock, 2013)! It is extremely fascinating to explore how young generation socialise over the social networking sites. Every piece of information is readily available in the social media and the technology savvy youth have constant access over them without really emphasising about the security concerns consciously or unconsciously revealed through the survey conducted. The definition of world for them is internet and SNS where they remain connected 409 Social Media: Roy & Das with friends, relatives and acquaintances including new ones who may be complete strangers. The primary reason for entertaining new friends is to increase social presence and interaction and also broaden the horizon of friendship. Updating status, posting selfies, stylish pictures is the common trend 24x7 among the youths. It clearly shows that inspite of the serious implications prevailing within the digital forum; the youths do not hesitate to disclose personal information more than just the normal information like name and age. The digital world and the SNS have opened a plethora of opportunities for interactive communication as well as a high probability of social media addiction, which is constantly rising. Making friends with complete and anonymous individuals over the SNS may apparently seem very trendy but can result in very serious threats as whatever is showcased in the digital platform may not be real as the study has revealed. The psychological impact and the resulting consequences can have detrimental effects to the overall behaviour of young users which is sometimes often ignored. But has been aptly highlighted by the survey conducted which clearly states there is a tendency among the young users that privacy issues are diluted inspite of them being vulnerable to malicious threats. The frequent change in the privacy and account setting is one option which should be appropriately implemented to avoid threats as well as keeping the profile settings secured at all times from any anonyms views and posts. Extreme caution must be observed while sharing and tagging of photos and status with strangers. A comprehensive verification of profiles must be maintained at all times from the SNS managers to ensure authenticity of profiles. It is quite understandable to maintain a very casual and informal approach while interacting through the SNS but we need to ensure measures whereby we remain aware about the level of intimacy we develop with strangers and anonyms users. It is paramount for the young users to be completely aware and vigilant about the existing security measures and settings in the respective SNS. It is pivotal to maintain the secrecy of an individual’s personal information and also not be persuaded to disclose it under any circumstances. It is also the responsibility of the concerned SNS managers to deliberate the pros and cons to the users and avoid any sort of jargon to create ambiguity or confusion which might lead to the dilution of the SNS privacy. The user have a clear idea about the privacy setting and choose the appropriate option to maintain secrecy and confidentiality of his or her profile from any possible emerging threats. There should be absolute simplicity and clarity about the information relating to security and privacy issues in order to ensure an environment of complete safety and security for all the netizens to continue to socialise and interact safely over the SNS.

Conclusion

Considering this body of research in a holistic aspect, what’s the final verdict? As with many technological inventions, social media presents both positives and some really unhealthy negatives. The detrimental effects to the psychological paradigm of the young social media users are a big reason to fuel research to find an alternative to such a necessary evil which can otherwise be a super powerful communication and outreach tool. So, if you find yourself pleading for Facebook likes or you see your mood being controlled by your Facebook or Instagram account, try shifting the focus away from your virtual audience. Instead, use your social network profile to reflect on meaningful aspects of your own identity and social connections with cherished others. At the same time, youngsters 410 Media Watch 8 (3) must also keep themselves abreast of the best in practice security features of the social network sites and also critically evaluate the intimacy levels they develop with otherwise attractive people over the web to completely reap the benefits of this technological revolution, without jeopardizing their own privacy and security.

References

Chewae, M., Hayikader, S., Hasan, M.H., & Ibrahim, J. (2015). How Much Privacy We Still Have on Social Network? International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 5(1), 1-5. Chou, H. T. G., & Edge, N. (2012). “They are happier and having better lives than I am”: the impact of using Facebook on perceptions of others’ lives. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15(2), 117-121. Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook “friends:” Social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, 12(4), 1143-1168. Gangopadhyay, S., Dhar, D. (2014). SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES AND PRIVACY ISSUES CONCERNING YOUTHS. Global Media Journal. 5(1), 1-7. Gonzales, A. L., & Hancock, J. T. (2011). Mirror, mirror on my Facebook wall: Effects of exposure to Facebook on self-esteem. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14(1-2), 79-83. Jia, H., & Xu, H. (2016). Measuring individuals’ concerns over collective privacy on social networking sites. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 10(1), article 1. doi: 10.5817/CP2016-1-4. Krasnova, H., Wenninger, H., Widjaja, T., &Buxmann, P. (2013). Envy on Facebook: A Hidden Threat to Users’ Life Satisfaction? Wirtschaftsinformatik, 92. Manago, A. M., Graham, M. B., Greenfield, P. M., &Salimkhan, G. (2008). Self-presentation and gender on MySpace. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29(6), 446-458. Marshall, T. C. (2012). Facebook surveillance of former romantic partners: associations with postbreakup recovery and personal growth. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15(10), 521-526. Meier, E. P., &Gray, J. (2014). Facebook photo activity associated with body image disturbance in adolescent girls. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 17(4), 199-206. Muise, A., Christofides, E., &Desmarais, S. (2009). More information than you ever wanted: Does Facebook bring out the green-eyed monster of jealousy?.CyberPsychology&Behavior, 12(4), 441-444. Nesi, J., &Prinstein, M. J. (2015). Using Social Media for Social Comparison and Feedback- Seeking: Gender and Popularity Moderate Associations with Depressive Symptoms. Journal of abnormal child psychology, 1-12. Przybylski, A. K., Murayama, K., DeHaan, C. R., & Gladwell, V. (2013). Motivational, emotional, and behavioral correlates of fear of missing out. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(4), 1841-1848.

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Toma, C. L., & Hancock, J. T. (2013). Self-affirmation underlies Facebook use. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(3), 321-331. Valenzuela, S., Park, N., &Kee, K. F. (2009). Is There Social Capital in a Social Network Site?: Facebook Use and College Students’ Life Satisfaction, Trust, and Participation1. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, 14(4), 875-901. Valkenburg, P. M., Peter, J., & Schouten, A. P. (2006). Friend networking sites and their relationship to adolescents’ well-being and social self-esteem. CyberPsychology&Behavior, 9(5), 584-590. Watkins, S. C., & Lee, H. E. (2010). Got Facebook? Investigating what’s social about social media. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Radio, Television and Film, The University of Texas at Austin, TX. Retrieved from http://www. theyoungandthedigital.com/wpcontent/ uploads/2010/11/watkins_lee_facebookstudy-nov-18. pdf. Last Access: March, 2017.

Ratnakirti Roy is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Applications at Inspiria Knowledge Campus (a management college), Siliguri, India. His broad research interests include computational photography, steganography, water-marking and cyber psychology. His specific interests in these domains include aesthetic evaluation of digital photographs, secure data hiding systems and behavioural aspects of humans over social media. Dipjyoti Das is an assistant professor in the Department of Media Science at Inspiria Knowledge Campus (a management college), Siliguri, India. His specific research interests include new media and its social implications, theological understanding of the mainstream and alternative media and impact of the digital platform in the dynamics of contemporary journalism. 412 © Media Watch 8 (3) 413-422, 2017 ISSN 0976-0911 e-ISSN 2249-8818 DOI: 10.15655/mw/2017/v8i3/49145

Social Media in Contemporary Marketing: YouTube Advertising for the Guerrillas

HARSHITA GUPTA & SAUMYA SINGH Indian Institute of Technology (ISM) Dhanbad, India

The guerrillas of the modern day marketing arena have been eyeing the innovative strategies to promote their products. They aim to grab the maximum attention with least amount the capital spent. This is what guerrilla marketing revolves around. YouTube has evolved as one such platform. It is being used as a powerful medium by the marketing managers to advertise their products on a world-wide stage by less spending. The paper throws light on the effectiveness of YouTube as a guerrilla strategy to know what attributes in a YouTube advertisement attracts the viewers to view and like it. Content analysis of fifty advertisements on YouTube of the consumer electronics segment has been done to know how the audience response to this new form of advertising platform.

Keywords: Guerrilla marketing, customer centric approach, YouTube, content analysis, advertisement appeals, consumer electronics

New age customer centric marketing practices facilitate a two-way communication platform to its customers and are considered effective. It is important for the managers to align their activities in a manner that facilitates a mechanism which gives an indication on the likings of the consumers. Advertisement is one of the important elements in the promotion mix which allows the managers to position the product to the customers. Advertising is an essential and conventional 360-degree communication tool used for generating brand awareness (Krishnan & Sachdeva, 2011). If the advertisement strategy is designed to include a two-way stage for customers’ participation, then it is supposed to be a customer centric strategy. Once online marketing was considered a buzz but now the term seems to be a passé and social media marketing is the latest multimedia boon for the marketing industry. Today’s generation uses various social media handles to interact on a worldwide platform. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. are few amongst the famous social media sites. People use them to put forward their voices, opinions, beliefs and talents across. And amidst such advancements, marketing industry cannot afford to lose the opportunity to use these social media handles to market their product on a trending scale. YouTube has evolved as one such platform. It is being used as powerful medium by the marketing managers to advertise their products on a worldwide stage. One of the largest search engines after Google, YouTube provides loads of relevant videos without any cost and also one can upload their content to express themselves. This forms the base for effective guerrilla marketing. YouTube also helps in spreading content worldwide by its

Correspondence to: Harshita Gupta, Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology-IIT (ISM), Dhanbad-826 004, Jharkhand, India. E-mail: [email protected] 413 YouTube Advertising: Gupta & Singh sharing feature which allows one to share its content on different other social media platform. Hence, advertising through YouTube allows the consumers to watch the video and like it if it was attractive enough. It also allows to share their feedback or suggestions in form of comments. They can even go ahead to share them on other social media platform if they find it worth recommending to their friends or family. Effectiveness of YouTube in context to the marketing industry has been less studied by the Indian researchers. Similarly, the growing sector of consumer electronics has remained untouched. The consumer electronics segment is a dynamic segment marked by constant innovation. Its presence on YouTube has grown with an accelerating speed in last few years. Therefore, the current paper is an attempt to fill this research gap. The paper throws light on the effectiveness of YouTube as a guerrilla strategy to know what attributes in a YouTube advertisement attracts the viewers to view and like it. Thereby, the current paper evaluates the role of YouTube as a new age customer centric approach adopted by companies for guerrilla marketing. It throws light upon its growing popularity in the marketing arena. Consumers electronics segment has been chosen to study the same and to know the process how some of the big brands like are using it to advertise their products effectively. Thereby postulating the factors contributing to make YouTube, a major platform to promote ones’ brand, keeping this segment into consideration.

YouTube and Guerrilla Marketing

Today, the new technology like social media has changed the structure of modern society and has altered the way people lived and worked (Krishan, 2015). The new technologies are capable of enhancing operations and hold the ability to be combined with different marketing-mix elements in various forms (Harris & Cohen, 2003). Marketing revolves around 4Ps: which are product, people, place and promotion and with the help of evolving social media technology, all the 4Ps can be leveraged to come up with great solutions. Solutions that may benefit not only the producers and the managers but also the consumers. Hence, both the ends of the market place, i.e., producers viz-a viz consumers shall be in a much satisfied situation. This will result in an overall development of marketing industry. Unlike the traditional communication mediums like television in which there is primarily one-way communication, now-a-day, people get an opportunity to interact with the information matching their needs and capabilities with a speed that they desire (Loosemore, 2010). Therefore, people are using social media more frequently resulting in creation of opportunity for managers to put forward their products grabbing consumers’ attention. Worldwide Internet facilitates communication to more than 2.5 billion people through connecting over 9 billion network devices for entertainment, sharing their experiences, knowledge aboutimportant issueslike education, geographical spread, encyclopedias, etc. (Alvi, et.al., 2015). YouTube, since its launch in December 2005, has been a leader in providing a major platform to all those who wants to watch, upload or share videos globally through websites, blogs, mobile phones, etc. (YouTube, 2008). YouTube was sold to another giant which is Google for $1.65 million (Sorkin, 2006). Since then YouTube is a multi-billion-dollar business and has been generating huge advertising revenues for Google (Tan, 2009). Hundreds of thousands of videos are uploaded every day on this popular platform (YouTube, 2008). With YouTube, the brand gets the opportunity to customize the message which it wants to convey to the customers. The customization needs as per the preferences of its viewers. This makes the consumption experience better and as a result, high-quality service options are delivered. (Rao & Minakakis, 2003). Hence, marketers have recognized it as a 414 Media Watch 8 (3) useful advertising medium. To study the nature of YouTube advertisements, a content analysis has been done for the most popular advertisement videos of consumer electronics sector on YouTube. Characteristics like message sensational value (MSV) and various appeals are studied. A coding scheme was developed after going through different literature available on MSV and appeals. Prior to this a clear understanding of the terminologies was developed. The advertisements were seen many times to do proper coding of the message characteristics. MSV is a concept which suggests as to what are the various elements or features in a message that triggers the audiences or causes a sensation in them. According to Palm green et al. (1991), “MSV is the degree to which formal and content audio-visual features of a televised message elicit sensory, affective, and arousal responses”. For the current analysis, the element used for studying MSV are put into 3 categories (viz. visual, audio and content) representing a total of 12 elements items. Number of cuts, visual effects, slow motion, bold or unusual colors and intense imagery is under visual category. Similarly, the audio category comprises of sound saturation, background music, loud/fast music and sound effects. The Content category bundles acted out, unexpected format and surprise ending. Guerrilla marketing is one such technique which has been considered successful for small and new enterprises to build strong marketing campaign and it will be a great opportunity for it to include YouTube as one of its tools to promote the product. Guerrilla marketing is a novel and an innovative weapon for achieving goals that are conventional but with unconventional methods involving less of funds and more of creativity (Kaden, 2007). Conrad Jay Levinson is known as “Father of Guerrilla Marketing” as he is the one who created this concept in his book Guerrilla Marketing (1984). The guerrillas have a huge opportunity to deploy YouTube for attracting the audiences to watch the videos describing the product highlights. This is a pathway for building future customer base which would be as a result of watching the videos which are creative enough to attract them. This will help them in making further purchase decisions. Hence, YouTube can be viewed as an effective guerrilla marketing tool.

Objectives

The aim of this paper is to investigate the nature of YouTube, making it one of the popular communication and customer-centric marketing platform. It also postulates the dimensions of YouTube, so that it can come handy to the guerrillas. Besides, the study analyses the factors of successful YouTube advertisements that leads to their popularity amongst the consumers with the help of content analysis.

Methodology

For contributing to the existing knowledge of YouTube advertising, various research papers, reports, magazines, scholarly articles, etc. are studied rigorously. Alongside, a content analysis has been carried out for fifty YouTube advertisements of consumer electronics segment to analyse the involvement of certain characteristics which contribute to its viewership.

Dimensions of YouTube: Hub for Marketing Communication

YouTube, being a resourceful website has many dimensions to it. It has emerged as one of the most useful weapon for a company to make its presence felt amidst the fish market of 415 YouTube Advertising: Gupta & Singh different brands. Considering its usefulness and usage patterns by the audiences, the following dimensions are proposed. Out of these, Entertainment, Informativeness and Customization are based on Dehghani et al. (2016). Figure 1 shows the dimensions of YouTube making it a hub for marketing communication.

Figure 1. Dimensions of YouTube: Hub for marketing communication (Authors’ compilation) Reach: YouTube being freely available, has a great reach. Although there are videos which may charge some amount for its content but most of it is available free of cost. Not only from ones’ desktop, YouTube is accessible from various other devices too like mobile phones, tablets, etc. Pixability (2013) has that 25 per cent of views, globally, comes from mobile devices. The availability on mobile phones make it more reachable. Moreover, having videos on numerous topics from different corners of world makes it available in many languages, hence adding to the increasing reach. With its huge reachability, advertising becomes more fruitful. Informativeness: YouTube provides with abundance of information which is useful. Having known all the alternatives available in the market, it really becomes easy to make choices. YouTube not only presents alternatives but also provides necessary information regarding each to facilitate decision. According to Ducoffe (1995), “informativeness is consensus exists with regard to the ability of advertising to inform consumers of product alternatives”. The two-way communication makes it more versatile. It becomes more helpful when one can actually interact and put forward their query regarding something. No longer is the time when advertisements were just representation of ideas. With such a website, creativity has no limits. Entertainment: Eighmey and McCord (1998) studied audience experience associated with websites and the design efficiency in the development of the website which may attract repeat visits. According to this, the entertainment added with the information provided in the website is an important element to attract audiences’ attention. This in turn increases the popularity of the website. YouTube does this task with perfection. It is the plethora of information presented in the most creative manner to make it a source of entertainment simultaneously. 416 Media Watch 8 (3)

Prominence: According to a report, YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google and therefore, it is much evident that people use YouTube frequently for seeking information or for entertainment purposes (Pixability, 2013). The same report has that 56 countries post content on YouTube in 61 languages which means it has made its presence felt across the world. The kind of prominence which the website has, creates opportunity for the brands to use it for their advertisement. Customization: It is of utmost important that a marketer should be aware of the consumption pattern of its customers. The lifestyle and need of customers may vary from one segment to another and by tracking usage patterns; it becomes easy to provide them with personalized content and information. This eventually lessens the confusion, improves the consumption experience, and delivers premium quality service options (Rao & Minakakis, 2003). YouTube too offers customization according to the preferences of its viewers. Hence, marketers have recognized it as a useful advertising medium. Share-ability and Advocacy: YouTube allows the viewers to not only gain information and interact but also to appreciate the videos by liking, sharing, commenting on and subscribing it. This feature helps any kind of promotional video to go viral amongst the consumer. Soon, in many cases, it becomes the talk of the town. Therefore, YouTube can be considered as an effective tool in a marketing strategy. The above mentioned features of YouTube enable the guerrillas to utilize this platform to create content which will attract a large viewership at minimum cost involved and hence it can be opted as an important tool for Guerrilla Marketing.

Consumer Electronics and YouTube

Internet is a widely used platform all over the world and it functions are not limited only to communication of data, in fact it has grown manifolds since its inception to sharing video, audio, pictures, over all knowledge and other time-based information (Garrison, 2001). The social media platforms are designed in such a way that sharing has become easier than before and due to this the percentage of viral videos is higher (Chong, Jin & Prasad, 2014). As a result of such metamorphosis, YouTube came into the picture. YouTube is a free online video streaming site that allows one to upload, view and share videos by its users, thereby making it one of the most successful application for internet video sharing applications (Tan, 2009). Now it has become a boon to many industries. Advertising being one of them has substantially gained from its presence. It has been observed that nearly all of the top 100 global brands have built a strong presence for themselves on YouTube, making it a critical element of a digital marketer’s strategy (Pixability, 2013). Consumer electronics is a huge and developing industry which is undergoing huge changes every day and is characterized by rapid innovation (Pixability, 2014). According to the same report, the consumers are keeping their essential brand decisions away from brick-and-mortar stores and are using YouTube search for gaining the knowledge about a particular product. They use YouTube search for knowing the product reviews, watching product comparative videos and for other related informative content. However, it is not used for immediate transaction-related information such as discounts or deals. The consumer electronics vertical of YouTube is humongous, it is increasing its growth rapidly and the top brands of the industry revolve around it (Pixability, 2014). Figure 2 shows the monthly YouTube views of videos about consumer electronics by its category.

417 YouTube Advertising: Gupta & Singh

Figure 2. Monthly YouTube views of videos about consumer electronics (Source: Pixability, 2014)

Consumer Electronics and YouTube which made an analytical study of the large world of consumer electronic brands and videos on YouTube by Pixability (2014), has provided the following facts in its report of the year 2014: • There are 9,02,615 total consumer electronics videos on YouTube. • There are 18.9 billion total CE views on YouTube, of which 23 per cent (4.5 billion views) are owned by the top 25 brands. • Electronics brands are more successful at reaching a large audience on YouTube than brands in other industries. • Consumer electronics content on YouTube has increased from 100 million views per month in 2008 to 483 million views per month in 2013.

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• The industry’s top 25 consumer electronic brands (selected according to 2012 annual revenue) now operate YouTube channels for a number as huge as 280 in a total of over 48 different countries. • Videos about mobile devices (smartphones, tablets) are the most prevalent and receive over 334 million views per month.

Study of YouTube Advertisements

A content analysis of fifty YouTube advertisements of consumer electronics sector is done to analyze the involvement to certain characteristics which contribute to its viewership. These fifty advertisements were chosen from various lists of most viewed videos on YouTube available in the report Consumer Electronics and YouTube by Pixability is a marketing and advertising software company certified by YouTube that collaborates with e-commerce firms, agencies, brands and content providers to drive business and awareness with online video content and YouTube (Pixability, 2013). The different characteristics studied through the content analysis are: Message Sensational Value or MSV: Suspenseful endings or intense music, unusual lighting and camera angles, zooms, or close-ups, multiple cuts and edits summed into three broad categories viz. Visual, Audio and Content category Appeals: Youth, rational, social, statistics, humor, scarcity and celebrity appeal Response: Through the number of views and likes of the viewers. Based on the presence/absence of these characteristics in the advertisements, the study attempts to find out those attributes that contributes towards viewership and likes. A coding scheme was developed after going through different literature available on MSV and Appeals and after understanding the meaning of the jargons clearly. All the fifty advertisements where watched several times in order to code the message characteristics under the study correctly. Single coder completed the entire coding procedure. Use of a single coder for the content analysis has been supported by various authors. Like, according to Liebrecht (2016), “Depending on the complexity of the task and the materials, an analysis with only one coder can be acceptable as well”. Moreover, according to the article Coding for Content Analysis (2016), “use the minimum number of people to do the coding. The consistency is greatest if one person does it all. Next best is to have two people, working in the same room”.

Analysis and Managerial Implications

Content analysis of ads on YouTube from consumer electronic segment indicated on the patterns of usage of different message characteristics. It revealed as to which appeals are more prominently used to attract views and consequently result in likes. Therefore, relationship between the characteristics and the audience engagement is found. Looking into the characteristics employed it can be seen that in visual category, 46 per cent of advertisements had high number of cuts and 40 per cent of them had moderate number of cuts. Usage of more cuts let many ideas to come together within a small ad.

419 YouTube Advertising: Gupta & Singh

Visual effects were present in 54 per cent of ads whereas none of these popular advertisements used intense imagery in them. Sixty per cent of the advertisements employ slow motion to put across the ideas. Slow motion helps the message to sink better in the minds of the viewers. In audio category, background music and sound effects were prominently found in many advertisements amounting to 94 per cent and 54 per cent respectively. Only 20 per cent of them had fast and loud music and 40per cent had sound saturation in them. Content category had 80 per cent of the advertisements which were acted out which means it can be said that instead of just talking about the product it is better to act out the message. 34 per cent of them had a format different from the usual consumer product ad whereas none of them accounted for a surprise ending. Amongst the appeals employed by the advertisements, rational appeal is most widely used appeal amongst them which is used in 74 per cent of the advertisements under the study. Therefore, it can be said that the viewers like to get more inclined towards messages which are more rational or are based on facts rather than just the tall claims. Next appeal which is famous amongst these advertisements is the celebrity appeal which is present in 46 per cent of the advertisements under the study. Social and youth appeal is also found present in 34 per cent of the advertisements. None of these used fear appeal to convey the message. Most of the videos were not too long as 46 per cent of these were of 30-59 second length. The advertisements chosen for the study are amongst most viewed videos and by knowing about their nomenclature, one can get an idea of the elements which attract viewers towards the ad of a brand. Getting a huge number of views is a step towards the successful communication of benefits of a product. In marketing, communication holds a lot of importance. It is only after the right communication that a likeability for the product. So, it is essential to do it in the most effective manner. YouTube serves this purpose well. It gives a platform to put across multi-dimensional ideas to a wide reach. The paper bridges the gap that exists in the field of YouTube advertising and therefore, has managerial implications in the real time. It indicates a managerial point of view, where the content analysis throws insight into the usage patterns of appeals and the MSV in advertisement of consumer electronics on YouTube which facilitates an understanding about the factors which catches audience attention towards an advertisement and creates engagement for them. Similarly, getting to know about the uses of its various dimensions will help current and future marketing and sales managers to frame their promotional mix.

Conclusion

The most recent development in the digital age is the era of social media where the social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Myspace, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, etc. have increasingly become a platform for networking and sharing content amongst people from different walks of life (Asem, 2013). YouTube, which is a free video streaming website available online offers services that allows anyone to view and share videos uploaded by its users, making itan application which is one of the most successful internet video sharing platform (Tan, 2009). The website is no longer regarded as the text or written word, but it is used as a combination of all forms of media and can also function as the source of entertaining, informative media such as television or cinema by uploading the media 420 Media Watch 8 (3) and sharing it via the internet video sharing application (Tan, 2009). With the kind of reach that YouTube has achieved, it would not be wrong to say that for marketers, it is nearly impossible to neglect the increasing popularity of YouTube or the quantifiable benefits and effectiveness that the brands can achieve by producing and sharing video content on YouTube (Pixability, 2013). From the content analysis, we come to know that features like greater number of cuts, background music and slow motion attribute to more views. And appeals such as rational appeal and celebrity appeal amounts to huge customer attraction. Similarly, content which is acted out is more eye catching than the ones which are just spoken. Hence, knowing about the attributes that influence viewership has great real time implications as employing these attributes help in audience engagement. The dimensions proposed in the paper reflecting the popularity of YouTube include Reach, Prominence and Share-ability and Advocacy. These dimensions help in making it a hub for marketing communication. Reach becomes an important issue as YouTube can be accessed from not only ones’ desktop but also from other devices like mobile phones and tablets, its reach is huge and with the availability of diversity in videos from all over the world, it becomes a user-friendly website. Prominence is another crucial thing and YouTube has made its presence felt across the world. According to a report, it is the second largest search engine which means advertising with YouTube can be a profitable affair. Share- ability and Advocacy emerge as an in-thing because the videos on YouTube can be shared on different other platforms as well which helps in making a video viral. With its features of liking, sharing, commenting and subscribing, people can put forward their views; which makes this website a popular hub for communication of any form which means the marketers too have the scope to put forward their voice and ideas.

References

Loosemore, M. (2010). Using multimedia to effectively engage stakeholders in risk management. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 3(2), 307–327. Pixability. (2014). Consumer Electronics and YouTube: How YouTube is Changing Consumer Behavior and how the best brands adapt. Pixability. (2013). The Top 100 Global Brands: Key Lessons for Success on YouTube: The Massive YouTube Ecosystem. Retrieved from http://concept5.com/how-the-top-100- brands-use-youtube-for-marketing/ Harris, L., Cohen, G. (2003). Marketing in the Internet age: what can we learn from the past? Management Decision, 41/9, pp. 944-956 Rao, B. &Minakakis, L. (2003). Evolution of Mobile Location Based Services. Communications of the ACM, 46(12), 61–65. Palmgreen P., Donohew L., Lorch E.P. et al. (1991). Sensation seeking, message sensation value, and drug use as mediators of PSA effectiveness. Health Communication, 3(4), 217–27. Kaden. R. J. (2007). Guerrilla marketing research: Marketing research techniques that can help any business make more money. London and Philadelphia: Kogan Page. Dehghani, M., Niaki, M. K., Ramezani, I., &Sali, R. (2016). Evaluating the influence of YouTube advertising for attraction of young customers. Computers in Human Behavior, 59, 165–172. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.01.037 421 YouTube Advertising: Gupta & Singh

Ducoffe, R. H. (1995). How consumers assess the value of advertising. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, 17(1), 1e18. Eighmey, J., & McCord, L. (1998). Uses and Gratifications of Sites on the World Wide Web. Journal of Business Research, 2963(97). Liebrecht, C. (2016). The one ­ coder reliability ­Intercoder reliability in content analysis ­ Faculty of Social Sciences, VU University Amsterdam The one ­ coder reliability The one ­ coder reliability ­Intercoder reliability in content analysis ­ Faculty of Social Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, 1–2. Know Your Audience: chapter 16. Coding for content analysis. (2016, May 9). Retrieved from http://www.audiencedialogue.net/kya16b.html Alvi, S.A., Afzal, B., Shah, G.A., Atzori, L &Mahmood,W. (2015). Internet of multimedia things: Vision and Challenges.Ad Hoc Networks, 33(C), 87-111 Garrison, W. (2001). Video streaming into the mainstream. Journal of Audiovisual Media in Medicine, 24(4), 174-178. YouTube (2008). YouTube Fact Sheet, from http://youtube.com/t/fact_sheet Alexa.com (2008). Website Traffic Comparisons, from http://www.alexa.com Sorkin, A. R. (2006). Dot-Com Boom Echoed in Deal to Buy YouTube. The New York Times, Tan, S. (2009). Predicting the determinants of users’ intention in using YouTube to share video. Institute of Information Management, National Chiao Tung University. Asem, B. (2013). Networked Publics and Identity Construction: Towards an Era of Virtual Socialization. Media Watch, 4(2), 161-174. Krishnan, S. G., & Sachdeva, P. (2011). Brand promotion through internet advertising. Media Watch, 2(2), 28-30. Chong, G., Jin, K., & Prasad, N. V. (2014). Technology Synergy Eco-System between HD Video DSLR and New Social Media Platform. Media Watch, 5(1), 67-76. Krishan, R. (2015). Social Media Challenges and Adoption Patterns among Public Relations Practitioners. Media Watch, 6(1), 73-81.

Harshita Gupta is a senior research scholar in marketing in the Department of Management Studies at Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad. Her current research interests include: guerrilla marketing, advertising and other unconventional ways of marketing. Saumya Singh a management expert is currently working as an associate professor in the Department of Management Studies at Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad. Her current research interests include: strategic management, corporate culture and macroeconomic Issues and consumer behaviour. 422 © Media Watch 8 (3) 423-437, 2017 ISSN 0976-0911 e-ISSN 2249-8818 DOI: 10.15655/mw/2017/v8i3/49148 The Internet Usage among Students: A Uses and Gratifications Perspective

MELWYN S PINTO1 & D S POORNANANDA2 1St Aloysius College, India 2Kuvempu University, India

Uses and gratifications research helps in finding out how audience makes use of mass media to gratify their needs. Media research can help both the industry and the academia to map audience behaviour which is very much connected to various factors such as geography, culture, education and socio-economic circumstances. This research conducted among students reveals that students make use of the Internet primarily with an entertainment motive, and only secondarily for education and current affairs knowledge. The study also reveals that digital divide is widely prevalent and it is an important issue to be looked at especially in terms of gender, though the digital divide has been narrowing among students in terms of geography.

Keywords: Internet, uses and gratifications, digital divide, ritualised and instrumental needs

The Internet has redefined communication and brought about an exponential increase in human communication without the hindrance of time and space. Today, people everywhere are increasingly using the Internet resources to communicate with their friends and relations, transact business, fulfil entertainment needs, and get updates on events and issues. The Internet, a network of computer networks, had its origin in the computer research carried out at a few Universities in the US in the 1960s under the aegis of Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) which resulted in ARPANET, the precursor of today’s Internet. In the history of the Internet, the National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET) set up in 1985 to promote advanced research and education networking in the United States soon emerged as the Internet backbone. In 1989, came the revolutionary invention of the World Wide Web (WWW) by Time Berners-Lee, a British scientist at European Organisation for Nuclear Research, and WWW was put in the public domain in 1993. A host of complementary technologies such as the launch of user friendly and affordable laptops, tablets, iPads, smartphones, search engines such as Google, Wi-Fi technology to provide Internet access via wireless local area network, mobile apps, and the emergence of the Internet service providers have played a pivotal role in accelerating the popularity of the Internet across continents. As of December 2015, a staggering 3.2 billion people were estimated to be using the Internet around the world (ICT facts and figures, 2015). Among all countries, China stood first with an estimated user base of a little over 721 million followed by India with a little

Correspondence to: Melwyn S Pinto, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, St. Aloysius College, Mangalore-575 003, Karnataka, India. Email: [email protected] 423 Internet Usage: Pinto & Poornananda over 462 million users and the US with 289 million users (Internet World Stats, 2016). Though the Internet user base is concentrated in urban regions, the usage in rural India is expected to increase substantially in the coming years. As the Internet usage is projected to increase in India in the coming years, periodic studies among rural and urban users of the Internet from the uses and gratifications perspective need to be conducted to gain a clear picture as to who the users are and why they use the Internet. Such studies would be of value to both the media industry and the academic community. Against this backdrop, this study was conceived. Before outlining the study objectives, methods and results, it is essential to take an overview of the Uses and Gratifications (U&G) theory and review Internet U&G studies. The Uses and Gratifications theory has served well in understanding why and how audience uses media and their content. Firmly grounded in the limited effects model of communication, the U&G theory is positivistic in its approach in understanding and explaining mass communication from an audience-centered perspective. As a theory, it seeks to explore the social and psychological origins of needs among media users (McQuail, 2009), and their motives that define their media usage and the effects generated by such usage (Papacharissi, 2009). The U&G approach had its origin in Herta Herzog’s pioneering study among daytime radio listeners (Herzog, 1944). From the 1950s onwards, inter-disciplinary research by communication researchers and psychologists produced abundant research on the ways human beings interact with the media. As has been explained by Katz, one of the early proponents of U&G theory, the U&G approach focuses on finding answers to the question “what do people do with the media?”, as opposed to “what do the media do to people” (Katz 1959, p. 2). The theoretical foundation of U&G approach rests upon “(i) the social and psychological origins of (ii) needs, which generate (iii) expectations of (iv) the mass media or other sources, which lead to (v) differential patterns of media exposure (or engagement in other activities), resulting in (vi) need gratifications and (vii) other consequences, perhaps mostly unintended ones” (Katz, Blumler & Gurevitch, 1974, p. 20). Such a theoretical explanation stemmed from the fact that people make choices about what they consume, and their choices are guided by the uses they believe they can make of the media and the gratification they gain from media experiences (Arnett, Larson & Offer, 1995). During the 1970s, the U&G research approach underwent refinement taking into account individual’s basic needs and socio-psychological features which in conjunction with each other define the motives for media usage and gratifications. Motive is nothing but a certain desire or need that directs people towards a particular direction. In the case of mass media, motives make people use various media in a certain way. Different people will have different motives according to their particular socio-psychological context. Such contextual environment creates particular needs in individuals which eventually lead them to gratify those needs. Here, gratification can be termed as a source that results in satisfying, rewarding, giving pleasure or gratifying one’s needs born out of socio- psychological environment. Rubin (1994) is of the opinion that while people take initiatives in selecting and using media to satisfy their needs, media on their part compete with other forms of communication for selection, attention and use to gratify people’s needs and wants. In developing a measure to assess motives that make people use media Greenberg (1974) made a notable contribution by constructing a Likert-type motives scale in 1974 while assessing British children’s television viewing motives. To construct the scale, Greenberg asked students of a London school to write an essay on ‘Why I Like to Watch Television.’ From the essays, he identified 31 motives and constructed a scale. 424 Media Watch 8 (3)

Rubin, a prolific U&G researcher, fine-tuned Greenberg’s scale in a series of studies aimed at measuring television motivation of children as well as of adults in the US. A first study in the series was based on the data he had collected for a study in 1978 from two Midwestern communities to identify television viewing motivations (Rubin, 1981). The respondents of the study indicated their levels of agreement with 30 motive statements across five response options, ranging from “exactly” to “not at all.” The factor analysis procedure comprising of principal component analysis with oblique rotation yielded five gratifications: (i) Pass-time/habit, (ii) Information/learning, (iii) Entertainment, (iv) Companionship, and (v) Escape (Rubin, 1981). Since then Rubin’s television motives scale has been used in examining the U&G of a variety of media and their content. In the U&G studies of the Internet too, Rubin’s television motives scale has been used by several researchers (e.g. Perse & Dunn (1998); Kaye (1998); Ferguson and Perse (2000); Papacharissi and Rubin (2000); Althaus and Tewksbury (2000); Choi and Haque (2002); Ko, Cho and Roberts (2005); Tsao and Steffes-Hansen (2008); and Ayyad (2011)). Besides identifying gratification typologies, researchers have grouped gratifications under distinct categories. Palmgreen and Rayburn (1979) distinguished two facets of gratifications, namely, gratifications-sought and gratifications-obtained. Rubin (1981, 1983), categorised television viewers as either “ritualized” or “instrumental” viewers. Ritualized viewers were habitual users who watched televisions for relaxation, entertainment, companionship, time-consumption. Instrumental viewers watched television to gather information on events, people, and places and use the gathered information in their social interactions.

Literature Review

The tradition of the Internet U&G research originated in the US Universities, the early innovators and users of computer mediated communication (CMC) in the 1980s and more so in 1990s. For instance, Rafaeli’s (1986) assessment of the uses and gratifications of Stanford University’s electronic bulletin board revealed three primary gratifications: recreation, entertainment, and diversion. Similarly, in a 1995 study, Kaye found that the usage of WWW among college students in the US was prompted by six motivations: “entertainment, social interaction, passing the time, escape, information, and Web site preference” (Kaye 1998, p. 34). The study also found that about one fourth of the respondents of the study were spending less time using traditional media like television, VCRs, magazines, and newspapers ever since they began using the Web. Eighmey and McCord (1998) in a study of the uses of five websites among college students found that the websites’ uses were similar to those reported in studies of traditional media such as television. In the US, the first national survey of the public’s use of the Internet was carried out in 1995 and was followed by three surveys in 1996, 1967 and 2000 (Katz, Rice & Aspden, 2001). While the 1995 study was based on a random telephone survey with a sample of 2500, the subsequent surveys however had a reduced sample size. An important deduction implicit in the comparison of 1995 and 2000 survey results was that the Internet had come to be accepted as a “positive innovation” (p. 414). The survey results revealed that social interaction through sending and receiving emails was a salient motive for using the Internet. Korgaonkar and Wolin’s (1999) survey among US University students showed that web usage had significant correlation with the users’ education and income; their motivations correlated well with the “time spent on the Web for both personal and business purposes, and the users’ purchasing behaviour” (p. 66).

425 Internet Usage: Pinto & Poornananda

By the beginning of new millennium, the use of motivation statements on Likert scale was common among researchers involved in studying the U&G of the Internet. For instance, Ebersole (2000) used a 5-point Likert scale with 46 statements to assess U&G of the web among students in 10 Colorado public schools. An exploratory principle components analysis of the statements resulted in seven reasons for using the Internet: (i) research and learning, (ii) easy access to entertainment, (iii) communication and social interaction, (iv) something to do when bored, (v) access to material otherwise unavailable, (vi) product information and technical support, (vii) access games and sexually explicit sites, and (viii) consumer transactions. Flanagin and Metzger (2001) investigated the Internet usage in relation to the traditional media by drawing a non-random sample of 684 students from two US universities. To identify the motives, they developed 21 needs statements skimmed from previous studies. The analysis revealed that in relation to newspapers, TV, books and magazines, it was “the Internet that was most highly used medium for getting information” (p 174). And the Internet was being used to meet 10 needs: information, learn, play, leisure, persuasion, social bonding, relationship maintenance, problem solving, status, and insight. One of the most often cited U&G study is that of Papacharisis and Rubin (2000) which was based on a voluntary sample of 274 students of an introductory communication course in a mid-Western university. They constructed a Likert-type Internet motive scale consisting of 30 statements some of which were priori categories and some adapted from previous research. The factor analysis involving principal component analysis with Varimax rotation yielded five gratification factors: Interpersonal utility, pass time, information seeking, convenience, and entertainment. Althaus and Tewksbury’s (2000) study involving 520 undergraduate students found that passing time followed by entertainment were the two most prominent reasons for using the web. The authors concluded: “Our respondents find the Web useful for keeping up with current issues and events but tend to view it primarily as an entertainment medium and only secondarily as a news medium” (p. 33). Tsao and Steffes-Hansen’s (2008) study among 437 teenagers in the US showed that the teenagers were using the Internet for entertainment, to know about Internet technology (to check new websites, web tools, play games etc.), build social networks, overcome loneliness, and research. The researchers noted that “girls are more likely than boys to go online because they feel lonely and want to be distracted.” (pp. 178-179). And boys were more interested in the net technology than girls. In the first decade of the new millennium, U&G studies of the Internet began to be conducted in other parts of the world including India. For instance, a study conducted in Korea by Choi and Haque (2002), found that Koreans were using the Internet “to communicate with family and friends, entertain themselves, have sexually-oriented materials and compare prices and purchase products online” (p. 133). Likewise, a survey conducted by Ko, Cho, and Roberts (2005) among college students in the United States and Korea, supported the findings of Papacharissi and Rubin (2000) who had found information, convenience, entertainment and social interaction as the major motivations for using the Internet. Similar were the results of a study conducted among students of University of Sharjah, UAE by Ayyad, (2011). This study also revealed that Sharjah students used the Internet mostly to entertain themselves, to get information related to their course work, and to communicate through e-mail. The study identified several advantages of the Internet over traditional media: “It is the best communication tool to access and get information; to download information and photos; ease to download audio-visual to get data through search engines; and to access other media” (p. 55). 426 Media Watch 8 (3)

In Spain’s capital city Madrid too entertainment was found to be the primary gratification sought by high school students (Jimenez, et al. 2012). The study designed to gauge Internet use patterns among adolescents, found that older adolescents “tend to focus their use of Internet towards audio-visual entertainment, while younger adolescents focus, to a greater extent, on games.” (p. 250). The study also noted that the girls were more inclined to use the Internet for information and to communicate with friends. Ahrens (2013) investigated gender differences in the use of the Internet through qualitative interviews in Germany and Australia. The finding showed that men used the Internet more than women. While men used the Internet to relax and seek pleasure, women in general were goal-oriented. A study by Adegbija et al. (2013) showed that most students in Nigeria used the Internet to access Facebook, World Wide Web and search engines. Above all, most used it for messaging, a social interaction activity. In India, as early as 2004, a survey by Mathur (2004) in rural Andhra Pradesh showed that on an average the internet was being used just once or twice a monthfor a short duration of less than half an hour. Most rural users were accessing information on topics such as current issues, financial matters, training and education, agriculture and health. Another Indian study (GuhaThakurta, 2008) showed that 70 per cent of users of the Internet were from cities and only 15 per cent were women. This study quite clearly indicated to the prevalence of digital divide in India, both at the gender as well the geographical level. Varshney et al. (2014) examined the demographic profile of the Internet users of India. They found that the Internet usage varied with age, occupation, and urban and rural location of the respondents. A more elaborate study among college students in Kerala by Prasad (2012) sought to determine students’ usage patterns and gratifications of the Internet and other media. The study revealed that a little over 56 per cent of the students surveyed were spending half an hour to one hour whenever they logged on to the Internet. And the Internet usage was “significantly higher among male, school going, lower aged, urban and high income group students” (p. 108). This study too indicated the prevalence of digital divide in Indian society. Through factor analysis Prasad (2012) identified six gratifications. The most salient gratification was ‘time pass and information’, followed by ‘social interaction’ ‘entertainment’, ‘education, ‘IT application’ and ‘financial benefit’, in that order. From such an ordering, it is amply evident that students were using the Internet primarily for ritualistic gratifications such as passing time and entertainment rather than for instrumental gratification of educational purposes. Such a trend is seen in the West as well. Prasad’s study also showed gender differences in the nature of gratifications sought. While the tendency of using the Internet to pass time and for entertainment was salient among female students, the incidence of using the Internet for education was higher among male students. In summary, the results of the past studies conducted both in the US and other countries are to an extent similar, though not identical in the number and nature of gratifications identified. The studies show that the usage of the Internet among students varies in relation to their age, gender, and urban and rural location of the users. Besides these independent variables, the usage pattern could be dependent upon students’ subjects of study - arts, science and commerce. As this parameter remains unexplored, it would be worth examining whether the usage of the Internet would be similar among studentsirrespective of their subjects of study. In respect of the gratifications, past studies point out that students use the Internet primarily to gratify their entertainment needs. The other motivations of lesser importance 427 Internet Usage: Pinto & Poornananda are passing time, habit, social interaction, education, information and surveillance. The Internet usage pattern and the gratifications users derive from the Internet cannot be expected to remain constant across time. Therefore, there is a need to conduct studies periodically to gauge the uses and gratifications of the Internet among students of different geographical locations. Such studies in India are sparse. Accordingly, the present study was conducted in Karnataka, one of the six Indian states with the highest number of student enrolment in higher education. (All India survey, 2013).

Objectives

The specific objectives of the study are: (i) To assess the correlation between the ‘frequency’ and the ‘time spent’ dimensions of the Internet usage, (ii) To assess the Internet usage among students in terms of their gender, place of study and subjects of study, and (iii) To determine the gratifications students obtain from the Internet.

Measures

The Internet usage is not one-dimensional and therefore researchers have tended to measure it in terms of the two dimensions, namely, the frequency of usage and the time spent using it in a week or in a day. While some researchers have measured and described the Internet usage in terms of both the dimensions (e.g. Johnson & Kaye, 1998; Ferguson & Perse, 2000; and Bubas & Zeljko, 2003; Gemmill & Peterson, 2006; Eduljee & Kumar, 2015), some others have chosen to focus only on the time spent dimension (e.g. Kaye, 1998, 2004; Li a, N. and Kirkup G, 2007; Jones et al., 2009; Cauwenberge, 2010; Korgaonkar & Silverblatt, 2011). Such a practice among researchers ostensibly rests on the presumption that these two dimensions are interrelated as those who use the Internet more frequently could be spending more time using it. Such a presumption calls for empirical evidence. Hence the need to correlate the two parameters so as to verify their reciprocal nature. To realise this objective, the frequency dimension of the Internet use was defined and measured as the number of days the Internet is used in a week with eight responses choices: 7 days a week, 6 days a week, 5 days a week, 4 days a week, 3 days a week, 2 days a week, once a week, and less than once a week. These eight choices beginning from 7 days a week to less than once a week were to be scored from 8 to 1. Likewise, the time dimension was defined as the time spent using the Internet on a normal day by the users and it was measured through four answer choices: less than 30 minutes, 30 minutes to one hour, 1 hour to 2 hours, and more than 2 hours. These four choices were to be given score of 1 to 4 respectively.

Gratification Scale

The use of motive statements has been a standard practice among researchers in assessing the gratifications users seek and obtain from mass media. In the Internet U&G studies, researchers have adapted the statements which Rubin (1981) had used on a 5-point Likert scale to determine television viewing motivations. Following such a practice, a scale comprising of 16 statements representing eight motives which had figured prominently in past studies was developed for this study to identify students’ Internet gratifications. The set of eight motives included: entertainment, pass time, habit, education, financial benefits, social interaction, escape, and surveillance/information. Each motive had two statements. 428 Media Watch 8 (3)

Thus, the 16 statements were presented in the questionnaire without any logical order. And the respondents were to indicate their level of agreement with each statement from the five response choices ranging from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’ which during analysis were to be coded with scores ranging from 5 to 1 respectively. Besides these measurement tools, the questionnaire designed for the study had questions on students’ socio demographic variables including the ‘place of study’, ‘the level of study’ and the ‘subjects of study’. The ‘place of study’ question was aimed to identify whether the students were studying in the urban or rural colleges. The ‘course of study’ question tapped information on whether the students were pursuing undergraduate or post-graduate courses. Similarly, the ‘subjects of study’ question was meant to identify students’ subjects of study, namely, Arts, Science or Commerce. The questionnaire was tested in a pilot study before administering it to the students sampled for the survey.

The Survey

The data for the study was collected through a survey among college students pursuing undergraduate degree and postgraduate courses leading to bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree respectively. As one of the aims of the study was to assess the difference, if any, in the Internet usage among urban and rural students, the sample was drawn from colleges located in urban and rural regions through a multi-step probability and non-probability procedure. In the first step, the Bangalore metropolitan area of Karnataka State was purposively chosen to represent the urban student population, while the district of Kolar, which is contiguous with Bangalore district, was taken to represent the rural segment of the student population. In the second step, a sample of 16 colleges from the 85 UGC- recognised colleges functioning in Bangalore metropolitan area and 8 colleges from the 13 UGC-recognised colleges functioning in rural district of Kolar, as on December 2014, were randomly chosen to draw the sample of students. In view of the fact that a large sample will have a relatively low sampling error, it was decided to draw a sample of about 500 students each from Bangalore and Kolar colleges so as to have a total sample of about 1000 for the study. (Cf. Gorsuch, 1983; Comrey & Lee, 1992). In the third step, taking into account the varying number of classes and the strength of students in each class, a differential quota was assigned to Bangalore and Kolar colleges. Accordingly, a quota of 32 students was assigned to each of the 16 colleges of Bangalore city to yield a sample of 512. The strength of the colleges in Kolar being only 13, a higher quota of 60 students for six colleges and a quota of 80 for two colleges was assigned to yield a rural student sample of 520. Thus, the total sample planned to be drawn for the study was 1032. In the final step, the researcher visited the selected colleges during January to February 2015, identified the classes from diverse subjects of study, and administered questionnaire to groups of students who were willing to participate in the survey. Such an elaborate process yielded 1032 filled questionnaires. With the elimination of 65 questionnaires which were incomplete or where the respondents had not responded as per the instructions, 967 was the sample size for the study.

Analysis and Findings

A blend of probability and non-probability sampling method had not adversely affected the representative nature of the sample in respect of the key independent variables. As

429 Internet Usage: Pinto & Poornananda shown in Table 1, the representation of male and female students in the sample was nearly equal: 47.2 per cent male and 52.2 per cent female. As regards the place of study variable too, the representation of students studying in colleges in urban and rural areas was nearly equal: 50.7 per cent of the sample students were from urban area of Bangalore Metropolitan Corporation and the remaining 49.3 per cent were from rural district of Kolar. Drawing nearly equal, if not equal, number of students from the Arts, Science and Commerce streams proved difficult as the strength of Commerce students in a few of the sampled colleges was low. Even repeated visits to the colleges to contact the entire group of Commerce students was not of help.

Table 1. Sample description Variable N Percentage (%) Gender Male 462 47.8 Female 505 52.2 Total 967 100.0 Place of Study Urban 490 50.7 Rural 477 49.3 Total 967 100.0 Course of Study PG 343 35.5 UG 624 64.5 Total 967 100.0 Subject of Study Arts403 41.7 Science 349 36.1 Commerce 215 22.2 Total 967 100.0

As a result, the representation of Commerce students in the sample was low (22.2 per cent) as against a higher representation of and Arts (47.1 per cent) and Science students (36.1 per cent).

Frequency of Internet Use and Time Spent

Examining the correlation between the two interrelated usage dimensions of the frequency of the Internet use and the time spent on the Internet on a normal day was the first objective of the study. To realise this objective, as explained earlier, the frequency of the Internet use in a week was assessed through eight interval level response choices. These eight choices were scored from 8 to 1 respectively. The analysis revealed that the single largest majority of students (39.3 per cent) was the daily users of the Internet. The second largest segment of students (16.2 per cent) used the Internet less than once a week. Those who used the Internet once a week formed the third highest proportion (9 per cent) followed by 4 days a week (8.2 per cent), 3 days a week (7.7 per cent), 5 days a week (7.7 per cent), 2 days a week (7.4 per cent), and 6 days a week (4.6 per cent). The mean frequency score of the sample was 5.20 days with a standard deviation of 2.75. In respect of the rime spent dimension, the analysis showed that over half of the students reported using the Internet for more than one hour. In that, as many as 28.3 per 430 Media Watch 8 (3) cent of students used the Internet for more than 2 hours, while 24.8 per cent used it between 1 and 2 hours respectively. Only 19.2 per cent used it for 30 minutes to one hour. An equal per cent of students were using the Internet for 30 minutes to 1 hour duration. The shortest duration usage of less than 30 minutes was prevalent among 27.7 per cent of the sample. The mean of the time spent by sample was 2.46 hours with a standard deviation of 1.17. Pearson correlation between the frequency of the Internet use in a week, and the time spent using it on a normal day showed a positive correlation (r= .628, N=967, P=< .01) indicating the reciprocal nature of the two variables. Therefore, it can be said that those who access the Internet more frequently also spent more time using it. Hence, either of the two dimensions could be used in assessing Internet usage. Of the two, the most appropriate is the frequency dimension as its measure had a higher spread with 8 intervals as against just 4 in the time spent dimension. Thus, the frequency dimension has been used in realising the second objective of the study.

Gender, Place and Subject of Study and the Frequency of Internet Use

The frequency of the Internet usage was not similar among male and female students wherein male had a higher frequency score (M=5.68, SD=2.58) than female (M=4.76, SD=2.82). To ascertain the significance of the difference between the gender groups, t-test was conducted fixing the significance threshold at .05. As reported in Table 2, the t-test revealed that the differences between the means of the two groups were statistically significant (t=5.27, p <.001). Thus, it can be inferred that male students used the Internet more regularly than female students.

Table 2. Internet use frequency by gender Group statistics t-test for equality of means t df p Gender N Mean SD 5.27 965 <.001 Male 462 5.68 2.58 Female 505 4.76 2.82 Total 967 5.20 2.75

Frequency of the Internet Use by Place of Study

With regard to the place of study, urban students had a higher frequency mean of 6.33 (SD=2.43) as against a low mean of 4.04 (SD=2.57) among rural students (Table 3).

Table 3. Internet use frequency by place of study Group Statistics t-test for equality of means t df p Gender N Mean SD 14.24 965 <.001 Urban 490 6.33 2.43 Rural 477 4.04 2.57 Total 967 5.20 2.75

Expectedly, the t-test at a significance criterion of .05 revealed statistically significant (t=14.24, p<.001) difference between the two groups. From such a showing, it can be inferred that urban students used the Internet more frequently than rural students. 431 Internet Usage: Pinto & Poornananda

Frequency of the Internet Use by Subjects of Study

In respect of the subjects of study, the mean frequency scores of Arts, Science and Commerce students showed no marked differences, though Science students had a slight higher regularity score

Table 4. Internet use frequency by subjects of study

Group Statistics One-Way ANNOVA Subjects of Study N Mean SD Source df SS MS F P Arts 403 5.06 2.82 Between groups 2 14.16 7.09 .938 .392 Science 349 5.34 2.77 Within groups 964 727.38 7.55 Commerce 215 5.24 2.57 Total 966 728.71 Total 967 5.20 2.75 than Commerce (M=5.24, SD=2.57) and Arts (M=5.06, SD=2.817) students (Table 4). A one- way analysis of variance showed that the differences were not statistically significant, as df (2, 964) F=.938, p= .392 was significant at .392, and not at .05. Thus, it can be said that the students’ subject of study had no bearing on the frequency of Internet use. In sum, the variables of gender and place of study mattered in the frequency of the Internet use. In that, male and urban students were using the Internet more frequently than female and rural students. And the students’ subject of study had no bearing on the frequency of the Internet usage.

Internet Gratifications

Assessing students’ Internet gratifications was the third objective of the study. To realise this objective, eight motives namely, entertainment, pass time, habit, education, financial benefits, social interaction, escape, and surveillance/information were garnered from past studies. Each motive was represented by two positive statements. Thus, 16 motives statements were presented in the questionnaire without any logical order and the respondents indicated their level of agreement with each statement on a 5-point Likert scale (5=strongly agree, 1=strongly disagree). The responses were factor analysed using principal component analysis with Varimax (orthogonal) rotation. The analysis yielded three factors with an eigenvalue of greater than 1 accounting for a total variance of 54.04 per cent. In that, the first factor accounted for 34.64 per cent of the variance, and the share of the second and the third factor was 12.64 per cent and 6.76 per cent respectively. In Table 5, the factor loadings of the items under the three factors are highlighted. Also shown in the Table are the Mean (M) and Standard Deviation (SD) of each motive. The first factor named ‘entertainment and pass time’ gratification comprised of 10 interrelated motives of ‘pass time’, ‘forget problems’, ‘habit’, ‘daily routine’, ‘escape from day-today pressure’, ‘entertainment’, ‘nothing better to do’, ‘for fun’, ‘to overcome loneliness’, and ‘interaction with others’. Their mean ranged from 3.71 to 3.03. The motive items’ Cronbach’s Alpha of .867 is indicative of a relatively high internal consistency. Thus, ‘entertainment and pass time’ gratification can be reckoned as the 432 Media Watch 8 (3) primary and dominant Internet gratification. That 10 motives had converged in the first factor suggested that the students tended to perceive and use the Internet to gratify a variety of entertainment and pass time needs which inherently are of ritualistic orientation.

Table 5. Rotated factor matrix of Internet motives Factor Motives Factor 1: Factor 2: Factor 3: Entertainment Education, Procure & Pass Time Current Goods & Gratification Affairs & Services Knowledge Gratification Gratification Factor 1 Motives Pass time (M=3.33; SD=1.141) .727 .115 -.067 Forget problems (M = 3.06; SD=1.154) .681 .031 .271 Habit (M= 3.12; SD =1.192) .671 .120 .119 Daily routine (M=3.12; SD=1.196) .670 .180 .137 Escape from day to-day pressure (M= 3.03; SD=1.127) .668 .107 .163 Entertainment (M=3.44; SD=1.097) .659 .155 -.012 Nothing better to do (M3.18; SD=1.199) .655 .020 .113 Fun (M=3.51; SD=1.085) .646 .192 -.030 Overcome loneliness (M=3.04; SD=1.180) .626 .051 .311 Interaction with others (M= 3.71; SD=1.105) .500 .348 .137 Factor 2 Motives education (M=4.14;SD=.968) .064 .775 .173 Update on world events (M=3.97; SD=.981) .131 .759 .040 Current affairs (M=3.82; SD=1.042) .229 .737 .074 Knowledge (M=4.06; SD=.972) .113 .699 .261 Factor 3 Motives procure goods and services (M=3.52;SD=1.173) .180 .164 .820 Buy/sell products/services for economic benefits (M=3.58; SD=1.159) .141 .320 .779 Eigenvalue 5.542 2.022 1.081 Common variance explained 34.638 12.638 6.757

The second factor labelled as ‘education, current affairs and knowledge’ gratification had four interrelated motives of ‘education’, ‘update on world events’, ‘current affairs,’ and ‘knowledge’. Their mean scores were quite high at 4.14, 3.97, 3.82, and 4.06 respectively. The four motives had Cronbach’s Alpha of .777. This motive, though only second in importance, is of instrumental nature as students tended to use the Internet’s rich resources to know about current happenings, acquire knowledge and education which certainly are of value in their academic pursuits. The third and the last factor named as ‘procure goods and services’ gratification was made up of two motives of ‘procure goods and services’, and ‘buy/sell products/ services for economic benefits.’ The mean scores of the two motives were 3.52 and 3.58 respectively with a Cronbach’s alpha of .711. The results indicate that some students do use the Internet to procure goods and services that bring them financial benefits.

433 Internet Usage: Pinto & Poornananda Discussion and Conclusion

The study examined the assumption that that those who use the Internet more frequently could be spending more time using it. The assumption stems from the fact that some researchers have assessed the usage of the Internet in terms of one of the two dimensions, namely, the frequency of usage and the time spent using it. The tenability of the assumption needed to be ascertained by correlating the two dimensions measured at the interval level. And Pearson correlation showed a significant relationship between the two dimensions. Thus, it behoves that either of the two dimensions could be used in assessing the usage of the Internet. Logically, the appropriate one is the dimension of frequency of usage in a week which as measured in this study had a spread of 8 intervals. Hence, the frequency dimension can be used in assessing the Internet usage patterns among the users as has been done in this study. The frequency of the Internet use among students differed in respect of their gender and urban-rural belonging, though not in their subjects of study. That male students used the Internet more frequently than female students points to the existence of gender gap among students. That a similar usage pattern detected in a study done in Kerala (Prasad, 2012) points out that the gender gap exists across diverse geographical setting and is yet to narrow down. As has been noted by the Broadband Commission for Digital Development (“Broadband Commission”, 2013), the digital gap perhaps is a reflection of gender inequalities especially in developing societies. One such inequality is ingrained in the restrictions on and inhibition of female students visiting neighbourhood cybercafés to use the Internet. The digital gap was in evidence between urban and rural students with urban students using the Internet more frequently than their rural cousins. Such a disparity could be attributed to the low penetration of the Internet in rural India. Also, lack of continuous power supply in rural regions hinders students to make the best use of the digital revolution of sorts that is sweeping urban India. The gender and urban-rural gaps in the use of the Internet both in the urban and rural areas are likely to get bridged to an extent with the increasing popularity of smartphones.In particular, females would stand to benefit most as smartphones will enable them to use the Internet with ease from the privacy of their homes.

Uses and Gratifications Typologies

Factor analysis of students’ motives for using the Internet revealed three underlying factors which are named as ‘entertainment and pass time’ gratification; ‘education, current affairs and knowledge’ gratification; and ‘procure goods and services’ gratification. The entertainment and pass time gratification which had the prime salience was made up of 10 interrelated motives such as entrainment fun, pass time, habit, daily routine, nothing better to do, social interaction and the like. The present study’s finding that students primarily use the Internet for entertainment and pass time related gratifications confirms the findings of scores of studies conducted since the beginning of the present millennium (Papacharissi & Rubin, 2000; Althaus & Tewksbury, 2000; Choi & Haque, 2002; Ko, Cho & Roberts, 2005; Tsao & Steffes-Hansen, 2008; Ayyad, 2011; Jimenez, et al., 2012; and Prasad, 2012). The Internet, undoubtedly, contains a huge amount of audio-visual resources consisting of websites for video streaming, downloading movies for free, and online games, which students use for entertainment and respite perhaps from pedagogic stresses.

434 Media Watch 8 (3)

As explained by Rubin (1984) all motives that are oriented towards entertainment and pass time are ritualistic in nature. The coming together of entertainment and pass- time related motives as a prime factor in this study, corroborates past research which had detected ritualistic use of the Internet to be more salient than the instrumental use (Althaus & Tewksbury, 2000; Tsao & Steffes-Hansen, 2008; Jimenez et al., 2012; Prasad, 2012). Though the ritualistic use of the Internet stood out as of prime importance, the second and third factors named as ‘education, current affairs and knowledge’ gratification, and ‘procure goods and services’ gratification respectively are instrumental gratifications. The four motives that had coalesced into the second factor were education, update on world events, current affairs and knowledge suggests that students do use the Internet resources for knowledge and education purposes. A similar study done in Kerala (Prasad, 2012) had found education as the fourth gratification factor preceded by three ritualistic gratifications of time pass/habit, social interaction and entertainment. Another interesting finding of the present study lies in the third and the last factor of ‘procure goods and services’ gratification which in Prasad’s study (2012) had emerged as the last among the six gratifications. This finding suggests that online marketing in India which had a humble beginning in the early years of the Millennium has caught the attention of students and some of them do shop online via the Internet. In conclusion, it is suggested that the correlation between the two Internet usage measures, namely, the frequency of usage in a week and the time spent using it on a normal day, be reaffirmed in future studies. In the event of detecting a positive correlation, researchers can measure and describe the Internet usage through the dimension of frequency of Internet usage in a week as has been done in this study. In respect of gratifications, the past studies and the findings of the present study indicate that the Internet which is reckoned as a powerful medium is being used by the students more for recreation and entertainment purposes, than anything else. Though this could be a pointer as to how students would be using the Internet in the years to come, it will be worthwhile to conduct periodic studies to fathom the changes in the uses and gratifications of the Internet among students belonging to different socio economic backgrounds. Certainly, a national survey among students drawn from different regions of India will be of value in getting a holistic picture of students’ usage of the Internet.

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Dr. Melwyn S Pinto is head of the Department of Journalism and Communication at St. Aloysius College, Mangalore, Karnataka. His research interests include: media and cultural studies, new media and film studies. Dr. D S Poornananda is a professor in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at Kuvempu University, Karnataka. His research interests include: environment journalism, film studies and new media. 437 © Media Watch 8 (3) 438-450, 2017 ISSN 0976-0911 e-ISSN 2249-8818 DOI: 10.15655/mw/2017/v8i3/49155 Cultural Experts and Communicative Capitalism: Transformation of Communicative Practices

VLADISLAV DEKALOV, GRIGORYEVA KRISTINA & USKOVA DINA Saint Petersburg State University, Russia

This paper, attempted to answer, how, in the age of totalizing mediated communication, the role of a cultural expert (i.e. a person with knowledge and competence for interpreting the cultural phenomena encountered by a non-reflexive person in everyday life) is transformed. Terms 'communicative capitalism' and 'digital labour' were used in this study. Through analyzing the communicative behavior of three Russian cultural experts (specializing in fashion, cinematography, and music) on their Instagram and Facebook pages authors identified typical linguistic and extra-linguistic practices of attracting and enclosing of Internet audience attention, multiplying of their communicative capital and monetizing it.

Keywords: communicative capitalism, digital labour, symbolic capital, postmodern culture, social networks

In the twentieth century, the cultural industry infected everything with sameness (Horkheimer & Adorno, 1997) and endowed the figure of the “expert” with a symbolic capital, applying which she or he was able to express legitimate judgments about the value of both elite and mass cultural products. Being an agent participating in the “production of the belief in the value of art in general and in the distinctive value of this or that work of art” (Bourdieu, 1995), the expert reinforced the existing symbolic hierarchies with her or his communicative practices. However, at the beginning of the 21st century homogenization and globalization of networked society make a communication spontaneous, unpredictable, impersonal. Networks become reflexive (i.e. generating a lot of different and equally legitimate opinions (Dean, 2010)). Their symbolic efficiency is declined (ibid). To describe the group dynamics of such networks, metaphors of “swarmed”, “rhizomatic”, “infuriated” are used (Galloway, 2014). Under the aegis of transnational platforms, the new informational reality elements are united into a kind of hypernetwork (Terranova, 2004), within which new relations of power and inequality arise. “The postmodern condition” (Lyotard, 1998) changes the existing hierarchies and criteria of division into “high” and “low”, “elite” and “mass”. The global culture becomes “culturally diversified and ultimately contested by other cultural expressions” (Castells, 2009). In “the click bait age” situation (Ross, 2017), experts and critics are forced to betake a new forms of communicative behavior in order to get an attention of the online audience. One such form is blogging or keeping a branded page or community in a social network. In Russia, a number of cultural figures have personal pages on popular platforms such as Vkontakte, Facebook, Twitter, Telegram: these are experts in cinema, fashion, music,

Correspondence to: Vladislav Dekalov, Department of Public Relations in Business, School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, VO, 1 Line, 26, 199004 Russia, E-mail: [email protected] 438 Media Watch 8 (3) literature, theatrical art, as well as opinion leaders and professionals who constantly speak of culture and works of art. Each of these pages is characterized by content, the topics raised, the periodicity of publications and even a participation of an author itself (for example, some experts communicate with their followers through a moderator). But we can talk about a number of similar communicative practices, determined by the global network. Critical analysis of these practices is necessary for understanding the transformation of an individual’s everyday life in the information age when communication becomes digital, global and commodified. That is why studies in the framework of the “cultural and philosophical understanding” (Naumova, 2015) of capitalism are relevant. They include post-marxism and critical media researchers.

Theoretical Framework

The research is based on three concepts: communicative capitalism (Dean, 2010), digital labour (Fuchs, Sevignani, 2013), field and habitus (Bourdieu, 2007). All of them were revisited in the context of accumulating and monetizing an attention of Internet users (Dekalov, 2017). J. Dean describes communicative capitalism as new circumstances of power and inequality within the digital platforms. Human “basic communicative activities” are mediated and enclosed ‘as raw materials for capital accumulation’ (Dean, 2016). In the new “ideological formation” contemporary communications media capture digital crowds in intensive and extensive networks of enjoyment, production, and surveillance (Dean, 2010). Dean’s main idea is that in the networked society the content of a communicative act is less valuable than its “contribution” to the circulating informational flow. C. Fuchs considers digital labour as an intersection of both information and physical labour (Fuchs, 2016). Internet platforms is based the exploitation of users’ unpaid labour, who engage in the creation of content and the use of blogs, social networking sites, wikis, microblogs, content sharing sites for fun (Fuchs & Cevignani, 2013). The surplus value is extracted while selling a data commodity of these “active prosumers” (ibid) to advertisers. According to Bourdieu, the three main species or forms of capital are economic, social and cultural (Bourdieu, 1986). Symbolic capital can be any of the capitals if it is “unrecognized as capital and recognized as legitimate competence, as authority exerting an effect of (mis) recognition” (ibid). The basic states of a capital: incorporated, objectified and institutionalized. The massification of electronic communications practices made the communicative field and communicative capital more meaningful (Candon, 2016). Revisiting Dean’s conception, we claim that an attention becomes the basic resource fueling new economic relations. Since each person’s physical and mental resources are limited, there is a tough competition for her or his attention on the Internet. And asymmetry in its distribution too. Networks become fields where communicative capital embodies “power over the product in which the labour has been embodied” (Bourdieu, 2007). Communicative capital can be defined as an accumulation of users’ attention on a particular segment of a network (Dekalov, 2017). It can potentially be converted into economic capital (i.e., can be monetized), and also into social and cultural ones. We understand attention as an informational labour-power: in fact, Internet users are (often without even realizing it) virtual “workers” employed by a variety of “digital enterprises”—network segments. Some segments they only ‘visit’ passively consuming news feeds. At other, they explicitly work: creating, commenting or sharing posts, pictures, and multimedia content. Some kind of symbolic rewards (for example, likes), pleasure from communication, or feeling of self-realization serve as a ‘salary’. 439 Communicative Capitalism: Dekalov et al

Segments are connected with each other technically (e.g. blogs inside the platform) and thematically (e.g. blogs of the same person at the different platforms). So, on the one hand, we can identify an individual with the social network, platform, or application he uses. On the other hand, each user is a “webholder” of a particular network brand (Gavra, 2016). Through its multiplication from the traditional media space, a network brand is created inside one or several platforms. In the networked environment, brands of popular communities, celebrities, public opinion leaders, and products of mass culture, coexist. Unlike memes, agenda events or narratives (in other words, “common places” (Virno, 2013)), a network brand is characterized by more explicit positioning and communicative strategy, clear ownership rights. In both cases, double profit extraction takes place. Users’ data and digital tracks are absorbed with a constantly circulating flow of information (an exchange value, which is the greater, the more attention was drawn to a network segment and the more “digital labour” was spent to create an information product). At the same time, people consisted a network in some cases are ready to pay for the goods and services offered by segment/ platform/network brand owners (here a use value comes to the fore). Thus, an Internet user’s attention becomes an object of interest for the owners of social platforms and owners of network brands. In both cases, some practices of communicative capital multiplying are used. These practices consist of different ways of network participants attention attracting and enclosing. This situation generates two groups of interrelated practices. The first is encouraging users to do informational work for symbolic rewards and selling the results of free labour in the form of data and digital analytics to advertisers. The second is selling certain products or services to users themselves. Both groups of practices increase the economic profit of the network segment owners. There is asymmetry in an attention distribution in a network segment, where several network brands (users, groups of users, or organizations) concentrate most of the attention and the “long tail” of the remains participants involved in viewing and commenting. This “discursive elite” (Candon, 2016) has not only bigger communicative capital, but also great opportunities for applying to other species of capital. The existing economic, cultural and social inequalities persist in the network even with the remaining possibility of “hierarchy disruption” (ibid). According to the Oxford dictionary definition, expert: is a person who is knowledgeable about or skillful in a particular area. A knowledge is the basis for an expert’s opinion on a particular cultural phenomenon. In a networked environment, especially when it comes to global communication platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), there is a latent audience demand for an expert opinion. At the same time, because of “rise of mass self-communication” (Castells, 2009), brand-new “practices of autonomy” (ibid) contradict with the prevailing models of media consumption. In other words, the user now is guided by a multitude of opinions, often ambiguous ones. “The global entertainment industry, which supports and is itself supported by advertising, is the main channel for creating a consumerist, branded culture” (ibid). An expert who moves from traditional media to the network thereby transforms his personal brand and made it network one. Furthermore, in a networked environment, an expert could potentially be a representative of the so-called “discursive elite” on the network segment. On the one hand, she or he satisfies the request of an audience focused on the opinion (audience of the topic), on the other, forms an audience of her or his own. Both experts and their audiences become participants of new (digital) labour relations.

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Communicative practices of an expert are determined by her or his symbolic position on a segment: she or he concentrates most of the attention of users, encloses this attention, and tries to monetize it. Also, she or he reinforces a symbolic power in the network section. The effectiveness of these practices depends on expert’s communicative competence, i.e. the ability to use the basic technical means of the platform (the correct design of the post, the selection of text, the use of stickers or emojis etc.), as well as understanding the boundaries, norms of interaction and morals of the community (Efimov, 2015) when referring to a particular topic. Discussing with J. Dean, we support the opinion of P. Candon on the need to study the linguistic component of communicative capital, since the medium in a networked environment is the language, and the expert realizes herself or himself as a linguistic personality (Karaulov, 2010). That is why when investigating communicative practices, the structural and quantitative dimensions of an expert’s blog activity are important, as well as the qualitative analysis of her or his publications and the study of idiostyle (Grigoriev, 1983).

Hypothesis A cultural expert, being involved in instant communication on social networks, becomes part of the system of new socio-economic relations based on a network audience attention.

The main questions of the research: RQ 1: Which practices are used by experts for attracting and enclosing users’ attention? RQ 2: Which practices are applied by experts to multiply their communicative capital and to extract surplus value from their “webholders”? RQ 3: How do experts reinforce their symbolic status as a “discourse elite” at their network segment?

Data Collection and Analysis

For this research, we select three Russian experts. Encoding them, we use the following abbreviations: R (Artem Rondarev, an expert in music); D (Anton Dolin, an expert in cinematography); K (Evelina Khromchenko, an expert in fashion). Basis for selection: a publication activity (at least on post a week), a large number of followers. At the same time, each expert’s audience differed by an order of magnitude: R has about 7,000 followers, D has 40,000 followers, and K has more than 7,00,000 followers. As a basis for the analysis, we consider authors’ posts in one of the social networks: Facebook for D and R, Instagram for K. The time for selection of the study is from March 2016 to March 2017. All data for the time was copied and saved in MS Excel documents.

Methodology

A methodology is based on economical and sociological interpretations of the term “capital”: communicative capital supplements a Bourdieuzian “triple” of economic, social and cultural capitals. Quantitative Analysis: For measurements of experts’ communicative practices, we used structural-thematical analyses, analyses of technical means and analyses of publications effectiveness. The main characteristic: share of professional posts, a share of agenda 441 Communicative Capitalism: Dekalov et al posts and share of promo-posts in a total number of posts. We claim these characteristics as the most relevant ones for demonstrating the situation of communicative capitalism double profit-extracting by an example of following practices: attracting and enclosing audience’s attention, and reinforcing of an expert’s symbolic status on a network segment. Then we measured share of agenda-posts in total number and in the most popular posts (top 10 per cent post sorted by gained comments). The same methodic we applied to expert’s promo-posts.

Quality Characteristics: Due to the fact that a dialogue between an author and a reader often relies on associations, associative connections between text’s key words play a significant role in forming a text’s sense. They act as “contact points” between an author and a reader and help to regulate reader’s activity according to author’s communicative strategy. To point out the most significant lexical units in terms of artistry and pragmatism and their intra-textual liaisons, which were actualized by authors, we resorted to revealing of key words’ associative and semantic fields (Bolotnova, 2009). The topics and key concepts for K, D and R are, respectively, “fashion”, “cinema” and “music”, which are predetermined by their professional interests. That was the basis for picking out the group of texts dedicated to professional matters, in which semantic kernel, made up of nominations from key concepts’ associative field: (i) creative products (a film/ a clothing/a text, a song, an idea, an image); (ii) creators (directors/designers/musicians); (iii) a product’s demonstration (an exposition/a video); (iv) an event (a festival/a fashion week); (v) an expert’s work (a book/an interview), was revealed via content analysis software. Further analysis was based on the contextual method, in which the greatest emphasis was put on modeling name’s compatibility with its predicates, through which subject’s perspective on the reality is reflected. On the grounds of analysis’ results the main projective (and, broader, associative) senses, shared by key concepts and neighboring phenomena, which are included in concepts’ associative field, and which direct lexical-semantic groups’ (“fashion”, “cinema” and “music”) compatibility in texts.

Results I. Structural-Thematic Analysis

Attracting and enclosing an Internet users’ attention

To answer the question “Which practices are used by experts for attracting and enclosing users’ attention?” we have examined correspondences between common array of publications and: (i) posts about professional topic (from this point onward: R – music; D – cinema; K – fashion); (ii) posts dedicated to current news agenda and hotly debated topics.

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443 Communicative Capitalism: Dekalov et al

High frequency of publications and experts’ engaging in commentary section act to keep and even enclose their audience’s attention. All experts write extensively on their professional topics at their pages. D’s and K’s shares of posts on films and fashion are greater than 50 per cent. In R respective share is less due to greater attention to topics like literature, cinema, and culture as a whole. In addition, R’s posts are more comprehensive and more likely to contain narrative component: several posts might be devoted to a same event or storyline. More than one-third of every expert’s publications is devoted to professional matters as well as news agenda and “hot topics”. Experts are eager to resort to event’s context, take direct or indirect part in the most circulated discussions on important topics. However, the proportion of posts on newsbreaks is less significant in K, which speaks for its expert’s smaller dependence on news agenda. D and R, on the contrary, attract attention particularly by event-related publications. Moreover, their share in R outweighs the percentage of professional posts. Also, it is worth to notice that it is true for all experts that some part of their publications is related not to their field of expertise or news agenda but personal or other matters.

Multiplying and monetizing a communicative capital

To answer the question “Which practices are applied by experts to multiply their communicative capital and to extract surplus value from their «webholders»?” let us look into experts’ advertising publications, which are going to be represented by: (i) posts with links to expert’s publications on specialized online media; (ii) posts advertising expert’s real-world work: workshops, events, lectures, products. Let us point out another ways to stimulate digital labour as well.

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A significant share of D’s and K’s publications (23 per cent and 32 per cent respectively) has advertising functionality. Experts actively use their social networks’ pages for PR and promoting their own projects and products. In D these are publications, lectures, projects (his book about J. Jarmusch), organized shows and events (including Luc Dardenne’s visit and his book’s promoting with D’s foreword). In K these are lectures and her own fashion lines. For both K’s and D’s posts publishing a certain frequency and periodicity might be pointed out (eg. for D–series of posts from The Cannes Film Festival supplied with hashtag #êàííàø, for K-publications devoted to Milan Fashion Week with hashtag #mfw and Paris Fashion Week with hashtag #pfw). On the contrary, R has a little share of advertising posts, which are predominantly made up of publications, lectures, and events by Higher School of Economics. Unlike D and K, R uses his own platform as a platform for publishing, whereas the former two are more likely to give links on their appearances on TV, radio, printed and Internet media. As far as encouraging users to do informational work is concerned, all three experts resort to direct questions to the audience, which are designed to bring about a conversation. In K they are largely concerning fashion and style; in D unrelated topics (for instance, personal questions about traveling, literature, and music) as well as “hot” ones (politics). R’s situation is similar except for the questions within topics where cultural and general agenda overwhelm personal matters.

Reinforcement of symbolic status

To answer the question “How do experts reinforce their symbolic status as a “discourse elite” at their network segment?”, let us examine a common structure of an expert’s page. In order to do that, the markers of symbolic status, represented in experts’ blogs, are going to be determined. Within communicative space experts’ symbolic status is maintained by platform’s technical features as well as by content of expert’s’ publications.

Information from D’s and K’s pages reveals that an expert is affiliated with a major media outlet. This includes numerous links to their previous employers at D and official status of Instagram account at K (a blue check mark next to account’s name), whereas R has no clues of that kind. Furthermore, R’s publications bear almost no mention of its link to other prominent figures of cultural field (few mentions of “Logos” magazine’s editorial board). D and K, at their turn, often mention directors, actors, couturiers in their publications’ texts and publish photos with them. Besides that, D also publishes photos and check-ins from high- 445 Communicative Capitalism: Dekalov et al profile events in the cinema industry, for instance, from The Cannes Film Festival. It is safe to say that K’s and D’s symbolic statuses in cultural field are emphasized much stronger than R’s, which realizes itself as an expert primarily in a communicative field.

Results II. Qualitative Analysis

Use of the linguistic means for attracting attention

The analysis made it possible to identify common features and differences in the use of linguistic means by experts. So, the adjectival component is quite extensive in posts K and D, in which the vocabulary with a neutral and positive appraisal is concentrated. On the contrary, R does not place the main emphasis on the adjectival component. In his posts, there are adjectives with different estimates, but it is rather difficult to single out the prevailing one. The positive evaluation clearly dominates over the negative in fashion and movie critics’ texts, which in the case of D is associated with elements of the semantic core like the movie (“the worst I’ve seen this year”) and the director (“Palme de Merde personally introduced by me is awarded to Sean Penn”). K prefers to express a critical opinion on the creativity of designers only through the prism of personal taste: “not my favorite collection.” As readers subtly notice in the comments: everything that Evelina does not like is not represented in her Instagram. At the level of nominal compatibility, clearly positive aspect is expressed in words: “miracle”, “masterpiece”, “rapture”, “brilliance”, “luck”. In the texts of the fashion critic, a positive evaluation is often expressed with the help of a combination of adverb + verb: “beautifully demonstrates the dress”, “boldly stylizes the dress”, “the dress always surprises me.” At the adjectival level, it is possible to note the typical compatibility of evaluative adjectives with nouns, and in fact a complete absence of epithets. In texts D, you can find adjectives in the superlative degree: “best”, “best of the best”. This leads us to the additional hypothesis that the positive evaluation predominance in the texts D and K may indicate the “exclusivity” of the information they provide, which the authors are forced to pay attention to. Exclusiveness is also emphasized by such characteristics of “fashion” and “cinema” as novelty: (“new”, “modern”, “fresh” collection, “new”, “fresh” interviews) and uniqueness: “unique”, “first in the world”, “Unique” show, festival, which the “mere mortal” cannot enter; in fashion this category is defined by the notion of “couture”: “winter couture”, “couture collection”). Unlike D and K, R is more critical in his statements, he does not strive for the intentional allocation of “exclusives”. His speech is characterized by an ironic, sarcastic connotation: “I‘ve remembered only that the song is written as an unchanging loop, in which some thin male voices are howling like puppies.” Sometimes, for special expressiveness, obscene vocabulary, jargon and intentional spelling mistakes can be used, as a connection to Internet slang of certain online communities. A distinctive feature of this expert’s posts is the abundance of terms that bring the language closer to the academic. In the speech of all experts bright artistic and expressive means are encountered: amplification (“music will be bad, unfit, anemic, devoid of drive, although very skillfully made “for gourmets and thinking people”, “the film is pompous, pretentious, dull and dead, just plain boring”), metaphors (“every movie is a mirror, but this one is the best of mirrors“, ”a portrait of a family in the era interior”, “a collection—an ode to a simple rural life in the spirit of Marie Antoinette”, Sonia Rykiel – “the Parisian knitwear queen”), but they are not typical. In general, it could be said that binary oppositions are blurred in the texts of experts (good-bad). In D and K, it happens due to the fact that the main emphasis is on 446 Media Watch 8 (3)

“exclusivity”, highlighting the best. Their speech is characterized by the use of quite typical combinations, which should be understandable to the widest possible layers of the audience. For R “exclusive” is not the object, but his opinion about the cultural phenomenon. His speech is more expressive, ironic, somewhat academic, aimed at a narrower audience. He deliberately departs from the emotional evaluation of the composer/performer/song/ clip, rationalizing his opinion and constructing a critical, to some extent, a dialectical mini-narrative flavored with words (such as “implicit,” “immanent,”, “pejorative”), which the audience identifies with the individual style of the expert.

Use of linguistic means for multiplying and monetizing a communicative capital

During the analysis, we have identified a group of ways to stimulate the audience to do informational work as well as real actions and purchases. In the first case, we can talk about a deliberately provoking discussion, which is achieved through an appeal to the audience with the question: (K) “Which dress do you like more?”, “Who wore the V-cut better?”, And in some cases, variants of answers are offered, backed up by a visual series; (D) “And what really cool and breakthrough is now happening in modern jazz music (vocal, instrumental-it does not matter)?”. R uses rhetorical questions (“First, what kind of slow finals do Beethoven have?”) or ironically plays on the questions of his audience (“Well, here on all sides: Why not Cohen, but Dylan?”). Another mean (strongly marked in D and K) is avarice in artistic expressive means (often used to give an informational tone to the text), which contributes to the appearance of comments, in which readers ask the expert to express their opinion. This stimulation is supported by the use of verbs with an incentive modality, interrogative and exclamatory sentences: “I recommend!”, “Oh God, what’s happening!”, “A film about VINYL! Comeon! “, “Read!”. Stimulation for purchases is due to the appeal to the categories of uniqueness, novelty, sensationalism, success: “exclusive reportage”, “news”, “new video”, “dress codes for success”, “for the first time, incidentally, for all the time I read about a Russian rock in ZiL, on the eve of the lecture there are tickets”. Also in the texts of K, there is an appeal to the example of celebrities (stylists, designers, fashion journalists) who have already purchased things created by the fashion expert. Posts with this orientation have a general introductory design: “but at this time.” Sometimes there is an appeal to your own example— if you liked the image, K tells you where to buy it; D goes to the screening of the film and advises everyone; R oversees the Internet project, materials on which it is worth reading. Stimulation to purchases happens due to the appeal to the categories of uniqueness, novelty, sensationalism, success: “exclusive reportage”, “news”, “new video”, “dress codes for success”, “for the first time for all the time I read my lecture about Russian rock In ZiL, tickets are available now.” Also in the texts of K there is an appeal to the example of celebrities (stylists, designers, fashion journalists) who have already purchased things created by the fashion expert. Posts with this orientation have a common introductory design, “and at this time.” Sometimes there is an appeal to his own example—if you liked the image, K tells you where to buy it; D watches the film and advises it to everyone; R oversees the Internet project, which articles are worth reading. Advertising posts from K and D are distinguished by an incentive: “Put on your little black dress and visit my master class”, “Read it, and go to the cinema on Thursday”. In the texts of R, there is a comic and ironic connotation: “You can listen to how I played in Yekaterinburg with my best performance, “Theodore, you’re wrong”, of course (referring to Theodore Adorno)”. The intention of advertising posts R is more neutral (“you can listen”, “you can find out”).

447 Communicative Capitalism: Dekalov et al In all advertising posts (as opposed to professional posts), the consumer is fairly clearly outlined: “If anyone wants to know about the urban life of jazz, and listen to some good jazz on the autumn evening, then here you can go for all of this.” This is also facilitated by the use of rhetorical questions: “Did not have time to buy gifts?”, “Do you want to understand the peculiarities of the current trend of the 1990s?” There is also a reward system: there are symbolic (“You will get samples of the correct pronunciation of the names of favorite brands,” “join us, it will be fun”) and real rewards (“all my subscribers will get 5 per cent discount to any of handbags and shoes in the collection”, “ And books will be sold at a publishing price”).

Reinforcement of the symbolic status: place and role of the expert

In the course of identifying the semantic core and associative fields of concepts, it became clear that the amount of use of the word “fashionista”, “listener”, “cinema-goer”, which together would describe consumer of fashion products, music, and cinema, is not enough to describe the concepts of dominant. This indicates that “consumer” is meant simply as a part of the existing hierarchy, but it is not the main part. The passivity of the consumer is also reflected in the verbal combination of nominations, where he does not act as the subject of the action, the action is usually directed at him. This is facilitated by the use of an incentive modality: “come,” “do not miss this film,” “sign up for bananas at the turn of the 1980s and ’90s.” For the expert, presentation process becomes more meaningful, not the perception of the audience. That is why concepts “fashion” and “cinema” in the semantic core have a nomination-”show” as a demonstration of the product. For the concept of “music”, designed in R posts, a “clip” is becoming a nomination, which is considered not only as a product of a creative activity but also as a presentation of music, songs, musicians. Consequently, a typical situation is when an expert is the only one who has the right to interpret what he has seen. Often experts back this up by appealing to their experience and status, which is most clearly expressed in terms of the use of personal pronouns that contribute to the expression of “subjective reliability” (Shcheglova, 2013): “I prefer the wedding proposal @maisonfrancescoscognamiglio”; “Woody Allen and Romanian cinema. Tastes differ (I would prefer the second)”, “and in general, I am not a supporter of Adorno”. The reinforcement of the status also takes part in the formation of ideas about the hierarchy of fashion, music, and cinema, which makes it possible to characterize them as systems within which an order is formed, with a certain role of the expert. The stability of these systems is emphasized by the use of extremely typical collocations in adjectival and nominal compatibility. For example, common to all experts is the use of collocations that characterize the geographical (“Parisian fashion”, “Chinese film”, “Russian music”), chronological order (“previous film”, “last collection”, “former test”), as well as stating a place in the established cultural hierarchy (“art house cinema”/”mainstream cinema”, “prêt-à-porter”/”Haute couture”, genre peculiarity of music: “country music”, “folk music”). At the level of nominal combinations, the following bundles are typical: film+director, collection+designer, performer/group+song. This allows not only to emphasize the author’s origin of the mass culture products but also contributes to the reinforcement of the hierarchical nature of the phenomena under consideration. The projective meanings that are generated in the texts largely explain the position of the expert in relation to her or his audience, her or his tasks and the definition of the role. In the body of texts on the professional subjects of K, a key projective meaning was revealed—”fashion as an art, show” (showing as “show”, “attraction”, “representation”, “art-action”, designers as “fashion artists”, collection as “Art event”); Other projective meanings are not the priority: “fashion as business” (“fashion retail”, “fashion-biz”, “fashion 448 Media Watch 8 (3) shop”); “Fashion as an area of professional activity” (“fashion editors”, “fashion career”, “fashion-purpose”), etc. The category of art becomes an important projective meaning for D: “cinema as art” (film-”masterpiece”; “classics”, director -”genius”,” artist”, “art director”,” director’s picture”, showing as a “holiday”, “event”). To a lesser extent, “cinema as a process” (“premiere”, “rolling”, “success” of the film, which is “taken to the festival” and “rewarded”, is “evaluated” by the jury). For R, the idea of music as “science” is a priority (this is emphasized by the frequency of use of terminological vocabulary: “music structure”, “musical pattern”, “music track”, “musical intonation”). Appeal to art and science gives experts the right to emphasize their importance because only they can correctly assess the “work of art” or understand the true meaning of the song lyrics. This helps to elevate the object of discussion over everyday life. This, in turn, generates the specific attitude of experts to criticism: “I am immediately reporting: on this profile are blocked all who express negative #valuablepresonalopinion about the models”; “Objections (in comments to this post, in other places - for God’s sake) are not accepted, do not even hope”, “so, where did I get another anti-humanitarian?”. D and R react quite strongly to offensive comments, first warning about the “ban”, and then fulfilling their promises. Account K is moderated. In conclusion, it is worth noting that in D and R accounts are often posts with reflections on the place and role of the cultural expert in the modern world (about linguistic means in traditional music criticism, about the difficulties in describing the film, reviews, about the readers of musical critics “in glossy magazines like Rolling Stone”). One of the reasons for this is a huge number of alternative (often aggressively imposed) opinions about different cultural products. The right of nomination and the symbolic capital of the expert are under threat.

Conclusion

Cultural experts become independent actors on the Internet and take part in attention distribution processes, which determine communicative practices applied. An expert functions now is not only in nominating (as it was before the Internet), but also in attracting users’ to her or his network brand, enclosing their attention, monetizing it, as well reinforcing a symbolic status on both cultural and communicative fields of a network segment. To achieve these goals an expert uses practices consisted of technical tools of platforms and linguistic means. These practices maintain asymmetry in an attention distribution, as well as, metaphorically saying, “exploitation” of a digital labour. But it worth noting, that the most of the profit made is appropriated by platform owners. An expert is only an agent of transformed capitalism formation. She or he is “active prosumer” too. The more she or he does informational work and involves in mediated communication with an audience, the more is a threat to her or his status as the professional in a cultural field.

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Vladislav Dekalov is a postgraduate student in the Department of PR in Business, School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Saint Petersburg State University, Russia. His research focuses on processes of a society digital transformation and new communicative practices appear as a result. Grigoryeva Kristina is a postgraduate student in the Department of TV and Radio Journalism at School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Saint Petersburg State University, Russia. Her research focuses on the representation of the concept “fashion” in modern media. Uskova Dina is a postgraduate student in the Department of Journalism Theory at School Journalism and Mass Communication, Saint Petersburg State University, Russia. She analyzes musical criticism in her scientific works. 450 Journal of Media Watch: An Endeavour in Academic Excellence! 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