Social media has been effective at all times and this time its the Election 2014 in India. Posting selfies is fancy but flaunting with your inked finger is all fancy this Election. When we look at social media as a whole it has been very impressive in communicating and collaborating with a large mass. It's not rare anymore, since we already saw how Arvind Kejriwal and his party (AAP) ruled social media and effectively communicated to youngsters, it has been a game changer in the recent years. 

Coming back to the #GetInked selfies in Twitter and Facebook it looks like more than the PSA's and manifestos the social media trump card worked. Great to see a social change brought alongside using technology, this clearly showcases how we can never underestimate the power of social media. It's not just another entertainment platform, but on seeing the involvement of the youth of today, looks like it could change political positions. 

Not long ago Facebook which joined with Watsapp has introduced I am a voter button. Along with clicking on that button users can share a story in their timeline. This button will be visible on Facebook when the local area election polling starts. As this time its going to be the millions of first time voters who are going to be influencing the ruling party, political parties have been continuously campaigning and connecting with the first time voters.

In my honest opinion an effective campaign can easily influence a first time voter, since they are very vulnerable and haven't been around in a while in this whole political setup. Taking an advantage of this social media works its chart out in the LoksabhaElections2014.
Another interesting website I as a first time voter myself came across is ADR (Association of Democratic Reforms) not to mention that this was also shared in my social media page through which I came to know about this. So, what's there in this website ?

1)It let's you know who is the candidate from your constituency contesting in the Elections. (Oh! wait, the main picture is not this, its the second point)
2)Background reports based on

• Criminal
• Financial
• Educational
• Income Tax details of Candidates and Winners (MPs, MLAs and Ministers) who have contested Elections to State Assemblies. 

3)It has an app that let's you know about the parties who break the election campaign rules, and acts as a link between the people and their representatives and has many more exciting features if you want to look it up!

Get involved and Get Inked. Vote for Change!

*Designs by Chumbak

It has not been so long when I talked about how some advertisements objectify women, use them to sell their product. No! It's not just another feminist ramble here, I want to make some points very clear through this post. 

So, on 9th April Dove owned by Unilever has come up with an ad to showcase the real beauty of women. It's not an advert which tries to sell you any product, but tells you to believe in the real beauty and real you. This advertisement uses a placebo effect, which might seem a bit complicated to understand - but to put it simple, it is the act of believing without actual evidence. To put in big terms, it is providing medically simulated or ineffectual treatment for a medical condition to deceive the patient. 

Not deviating from the real story, recently there was a controversy in the Facebook page of Women's rights news, which is a feminism related page that addressed this advert to be 'awful' and makes women look more gullible and dumb. Shocked to hear such a thing about a dove ad campaign which has proved its way to touch the hearts of many women all round the globe, this is my point of view about it - In my eyes this advert just tries to tell you that you don't need any product be it a beauty cream or a face wash that can give you instant fairness. It tries to stand for the women and get them to believe in the 'real beauty'. 

When we think about this in a broader perspective, Dove is trying to put down its opponents without making a big statement, but indirectly influencing the minds of their target audience and additionally what they get for it is we believe in real beauty. On a contrary, Dove is owned by Unilever and the brand also makes the commercials for 'AXE'. Needless to explain how they objectify women to sell the product, and the amount of bans they have underwent to broadcast their adverts. 

Before you believe in anything, just question yourself on is it worth believing. That would make a change.

Have your say on this advert?