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I received a clip of Dushyant Kumar’s poem on WhatsApp stating that it was written by Premchand. I had read that poem several times, and I know that Premchand was not a poet, but a famous Hindi novelist and story teller. But this message was forwarded to me and others umpteen times.
One more clip recently went viral showing Dr. Ashwini Bhide singing along with an artist, though Dr Bhide was nowhere in that clip, but people pushed it again and again.
There are religious messages stating that if you forward this message to ten groups, you will instantaneously receive the God’s blessings.
During this pandemic, so many doctors have emerged with their herbal or ayurvedic prescriptions. One prescribes use of turmeric, nothing else. The other relies totally on the combo of onion and rock salt. Third one concludes that only neem leaves can take out of this crisis.
A common person gets confused, but they have done their job to come in the limelight by making and circulating the text, audio and video messages on different social media. Publicity at the cost of others.
And then the students of WhatsApp University religiously follow and forward those forwarded messages to fellow brethren to enlighten them.
There are some genuine messages as well, but we must learn to discern between right and wrong. Until and unless, we ourselves are convinced, what is the fun in forwarding messages mindlessly, that too without reading.
I have seen in groups, the same message is sent by 5 members without realising that the same message has already been forwarded by others in the same group.
This has become an addiction, to be the first in forwarding a message that comes in the market, without using logic, without applying common sense. We don’t care what effect this forward will have on the person, or on the family members.
But in the process, we unknowingly become a part of the chain to spread lies or fake news, and help the unscrupulous publicity seekers at our own cost.
–Kaushal Kishore
Kaushal Kishore 
I am so grateful for your illuminating post. I knew that those evil games existed in the past but could not imaging being connected with the pandemic. I will copy and post it to my Indian friends who might have been targeted.
Thank you.
Joanna
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Strange is the way of forwarding agents. Thank you, Joanna, for your kind gesture. Much appreciated!
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Rightly said. We must fact check every message received on social media before forwarding them to someone else. Moreover, we should aware others of the authenticity of the message by sharing relevant news/articles with them.
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There is a unique disclaimer now being used, “forwarded as received”. What does it mean? If you are not sure of authenticity, don’t forward. A number of fraud links are also being shared without checking. There is a need to regulate such messages, particularly in groups. Thank you, Lakshya, for reading and sharing your perspectives.
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Completely agree with you!
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Yes true. Sometimes without checking authenticity people simply forward it. This has happened on the subject of vaccination. Because of all wrong /false information people are hesitating to take the vaccine.
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You are right, such misleading messages confuse the masses. In fact, we should be cautious, and rely on the reliable sources only. Thank you for sharing your concerns as well.🙏
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I don’t use WhatsApp, Facebook, or any social media. WordPress is about as “social” as it gets for me. Not everything in modern technology is good for humanity! 🙏
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In a way, you are correct, but whatsapp has become almost essential in India for instant messaging.
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Whatsup with whatsapp. I use Fb. Anything else is superfluous, enough chain letters. Who remembers those?
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Yes, you are right. We have to manage the things in our own best way. Thanks for sharing your views!!
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Yes, the old analogue chain letter with the dire warning should you break the chain.
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