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The Hindu
29-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
‘Community building online comes with both opportunities, challenges'
Community building online offers unique opportunities for connecting with people, but it also has challenges. While digital spaces allow like-minded individuals to unite, they often foster echo chambers and polarised views. To build healthier online communities, it is essential to focus on shared goals, empathy, and constructive dialogue, said students of Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) during a panel discussion organised here as a part of The Hindu Huddle on Campus on Tuesday. The students were in conversation with Narayan Lakshman, Curator, The Hindu Huddle, and Opinion Editor, The Hindu, on 'The Age of Politics and Polarisation: What does taking a balanced and nuanced stand mean today?' Sadhya Padmanabhan said that in the past, people could opt out of global discussions and remain neutral, informed only locally. Today, widespread access to smartphones and social media exposes everyone — especially youth — to global happenings, often pressuring them to form opinions. She added that social media had made it difficult to grow or change opinions without being labelled a hypocrite. With past views publicly broadcast, individuals feel pressured to align with group beliefs. Identity is now closely tied to in-group stances, limiting open expression, learning, and the ability to evolve perspectives, she added. According to Samyuktha Vijay, politics today extends beyond elections and policies, focusing on emotional appeal and identity. To gain support, parties tap into personal beliefs, leading to polarisation. Everyday choices are now political, reflecting how deeply politics has intertwined with individual identity and personal values. She also said the COVID-19 pandemic was a major turning point globally. and it reshaped geopolitics, accelerated China's rise, and altered India's regional role. Rather than uniting the world, the pandemic exposed deep polarisation. Rohan Krishnan said social media enabled the formation of communities and amplified polarised views and political parties tapped into these divided crowds, especially engaging youth. According to him, COVID-19 got the entire world together for the first time and a lot of people developed sympathy for someone so far away. He also said though technology enabled community-building, many modern online communities lacked inclusivity and fostered echo chambers. Shreenath Nair said the reach of politics had expanded and would keep expanding. He also highlighted the role of social media in geopolitics reaching a larger public. Building meaningful communities involved introspecting personal privileges, and empathising with the struggles of others. Acknowledging biases helps create more inclusive, solution-focused communities that foster understanding and positive change, he added.
The Hindu
29-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
U.S. Election 2024: The challenge of change
The 2024 U.S. Presidential election is around the corner, and it promises drama, excitement... This eBook is structured and timed to give readers – including those who follow U.S. politics closely but also the general reader with an interest in current events – a flavour of the multiple dimensions of the election, including the drama of the campaign months, the unique features of the electoral system, and a clear sense of what each candidate stands for and offers the country and the world. What's inside: Setting the stage: contextualising a momentous election, by Narayan Lakshman ABC of the 2024 U.S. election, by Varghese K. George The process and intricacies of the U.S. elections, by Heena Goswami When only one-fifth of the American voters really matter, by Atanu Biswas Swing States and the 2024 election – An in-depth view, by Srinivasan Ramani Voter psyche and key social concerns, by Anando Bhakto How big tech is disrupting the democracy in the U.S., by Manish Tiwari The education-election nexus, by Michael Roth Editor's note With this eBook on the U.S. election, The Hindu is introducing a series that will cover important events and issues, and subjects of interest that are not aligned with the regular news cycle. These books in digital format will be available free for subscribers of the online edition, including ePaper, and available for purchase for others. Each eBook will be around a single theme, and will seek to be comprehensive with articles from subject experts across the world. We intend to publish this series every month; going forward, we propose to cover sectors such as education, health, and sports, besides foreign affairs. Trust this will be a valuable addition to your digital library. Suresh Nambath, Editor. To download a sample of the e-book: o buy the e-book from Amazon: To download the PDF version for the book, subscribe here:
