Is the Indian Internet finally democratic?

Cheap data packs and TikTok might just have finally made the Internet truly democratic in India — and to enjoy the benefits, we have to live with the warts

- Arnesh Ghose

Orkut was fun. It was a simple, “cool” platform, where the only thing we were crazy about were testimonials. Then Facebook happened, and we just scooped up the same social media behavioural pattern, and dumped it on FB. Heck, we didn’t even know what “social media” was back then. It was a website. It was very difficult to explain what it was to our parents, and why we were obsessed with it. But Facebook wasn’t for everyone back then. For starters, the Internet wasn’t as mobile as it is now. So, only computers had websites. That reads funny today, doesn’t it? On top of that, both Orkut and Facebook were only in English. Websites were mostly in English too. The Internet was a members only club. Today, well, the story is very different. And unfortunately, the privileged are not happy.

The viral Dolly Parton challenge from last year captured the distinctive personalities of social media apps — it’s based on what people want to achieve from their presence on said platforms. Facebook is an aggregator of news and networking. It’s the introduction to social media. Out parents start off with FB, many might not even graduate to others. Instagram comes next, as a perception platform. Instagram is about the good life, about self-love, about flaunting, about how-amazing-you-should-think my-life-is. LinkedIn is to project professionalism and cerebrality. Dating apps are mostly for hooking up (let's be honest, please). Snapchat is, well, dead, right?