What 32 million Indians made of Twitter

Twitter is what people make of it. And India has used Twitter as a megaphone at some very serious moments, as well as celebratory ones.

By: HT CORRESPONDENT
| Updated on: Mar 21 2016, 13:42 IST

image caption — Twitter is what people make of it. And India has used Twitter as a megaphone at some very serious moments, as well as celebratory ones. (Twitter)

It's live, opinionated, noisy and an increasingly significant source of news and information in India. For over a decade, Twitter has been used to socialise, celebrate, make people aware and even blaze movements. Despite having been through a turmoil internally, Twitter as a medium has been robust. It's been at the centre of most debates, movements and incidents. At AllThingsD conference in 2011, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey told the audience that, "We don't have an answer, and that's O.K." He felt that way because like every social network, Twitter is what people make of it. And its 32 million users in India have used Twitter as a megaphone at some very serious moments, as well as celebratory ones.

#MumbaiTerroristAttacks was covered intensively by television crews, but only Twitter was able to give us an idea of the situation inside. From hostages to people outside the Taj hotel, everyone chose Twitter to make sure the country knew the ground realities of the situation.

Just in - Mumbai attacked..hotels like TAJ, Oberoi, firing reported, several blast.AK-47 apparently being used...whats happ in the world !!!
— Anirudh B Balotiaa (@anirudhbb) November 26, 2008

#IndiaWinsCricketWorldCup after 28 years and Twitter, as expected, is flooded with celebratory tweets.

So much joy on streets of Mumbai - young people as far as eye can see, waving tricolour, jubilant on India winning World Cup. Celebrating!
— Nirupama Rao (@NMenonRao) April 2, 2011

#Nirbhaya incident evoked shock, outrage and protest which spanned from the social media to the streets.

Delhi looks more like India's Tahrir Square
— Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) December 22, 2012

#ThankYouSachin was Twitter's way of bidding farewell to their beloved cricketer and according to the BCCI, it generated 3 million Tweets with fans sharing photographs signed by Sachin among memorable moment's from the legend's career.

#ThankYouSachin 14/11/2013 pic.twitter.com/wOCE3i3FRl
— Rahul Kapil (@rahulkapil) November 14, 2013

#LokSabhaElection of 2014 saw politicians use Twitter extensively for their campaigns to an extent that even the first celebrations of the result was with a tweet.

India has won! भारत की विजय। अच्छे दिन आने वाले हैं।
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 16, 2014

#Rajinikanth joins Twitter.

Salutation to the Lord. Vaṇakkam aṉaivarukkum !! A big thank you to all my fans. Excited on this digital journey http://t.co/79ea6MrDe3
— Rajinikanth (@superstarrajini) May 5, 2014

#MarsOrbiter reaches Mars and has a chat with NASA's curiosity rover via Twitter.

What is red, is a planet and is the focus of my orbit? pic.twitter.com/HDRWjOcPus
— ISRO's Mars Orbiter (@MarsOrbiter) September 24, 2014

#TajMahal beat the Eiffel Tower at joining Twitter.

@yadavakhilesh Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, #India shares his #MyTajMemory on the official launch of @TajMahal pic.twitter.com/nt5v3BFs8T
— Taj Mahal (@TajMahal) August 15, 2015

#HappyDiwali generated 1.8 million tweets in 2015 with the debut of a special Diwali emoji and the Diwaliontwitter.com website collating all of them.

Diwali decorations 2015, #HappyDiwali pic.twitter.com/Dda6CCzjVK
— Ratna Chaturvedi (@RatnaChaturvedi) November 12, 2015

#ChennaiFloods saw Twitter being used to provide reports, disseminate critical information and coordinate local relief efforts during the record-breaking floods at the end of 2015.