|
Reading Time: 5 minutes 21 seconds
|
by Tushar Kanti
0
0
1101
0

#SushantSinghRajput's death dominates the digital sphere

2020 has been an unstable year for most of us but not necessarily for the internet. With theatres and restaurants closed for service, people spent considerable amount of time online. According to the Google Search Trends report, the death of the 34 year old actor Sushant Singh Rajput (SSR) in the month of June without a suicide note became the top trending topic in India. It appeared as if that the grief-stricken fans were searching for missing links to the story. Investigation of Google analytics reveal that the interest over time on SSR reached a whooping 100 points between June 14 - 20, 2020:
 
 
What is astonishing is the fact that the time that was devoted to his suicide hogged a bulk of the prime time even after 60 days of the unfortunate incident with some of them becoming criminal investigators presenting new evidences each day. A recent report by the Institute of Perception Studies, New Delhi revealed that Arnab Goswami of Republic TV and Navika Kumar of Times Now devoted as much as over 65 percent of their prime time debates on the SSR suicide case. The Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) on its official twitter handle proclaimed that the share of news to total tv grew from a mere 7% to a considerable 21% with Republic Bharat dominating the charts during the SSR suicide trial cum coverage:
 
 
Social Media exploded with support as well as allegations and hashtags became prevelent:
 
 
Along with the above mentioned hashtags, #justiceforssr, #whokilledourSSR, #SSRdeservesjustice, #CBI4SSR etc. dominated the digital sphere. Facebook groups like the one below gathered thousands of impressions and mobilised support demanding justice for their fallen hero.
 
 
What is noteworthy is that Sushant Singh Rajput decided to take to social media to convey (indirectly) about his deteriorating mental health back in 2019:
 
 
Therefore it is not surprising that reactions regarding his death would be absent from the digital sphere. His fans and supporters poured out emotions on social media platforms. Some of them even demanding investigations for the previous cases of suicides. SSR's death seemed to have jolted the entire Indian film industry:
 
 
Ranveer Singh too, became the victim of wrath of Sushant Singh Rajput's fans owing to a particular scientific monologue that the actor said in the commercial for the brand Bingo. Instantly, #BoycottBingo began trending online and the company was asked to censor the advertisement. 

It was this time when another trend under the hashtag #teamkangana also gained popularity. She presented herself as a protagonist against the 'privileged' celebrities of the Indian Cinema and seized the moment by speaking against growing nepotism in the industry:
 
Her twitterati soldiers took a step further and went ahead to target the state mechanism accusing them of favouring nepotism:
 
 
What followed was a series of verbal spats between the Kangana Army, the Mumbai Police 
and the Maharashtra Government.

It was also quite astonishing that many from the industry itself came together to fight against nepotism. Connoisseur directors like Hansal Mehta took to twitter to support Team Kangana:
 
A growing hatred for Rhea Chakraborty, who was a prime suspect in this case was also observed on various media platforms where many resorted even to derogatory terms to address her. It was probably for the first time that the country was witnessing such abomination for a celebrity. #RheaChakrobortyGoldDigger was one of the trends that dominated the platforms for a considerable time and gathered remarkable impressions:
 
 
A very disrescpectful music video also surfaced on the internet targeting Rhea and placing her in a bad light:
 
 
Coupled with conspiracy theories, allegations, misinformations and accusations, the SSR case dominated the digital platforms for a great part of the year 2020. For the first time, digital sphere became a platform to target nepotism, seek justice and initiate a storm in the Indian media industry.
 
Digital media has become an important tool to achieve objectives whether nefarious or not. To increase your brand's digital footprint visit checkbrand.online
 
Sushant has died but the stir his death created is sure to live on for some more time. 
 
 
 
 
December 10, 2020
0
0
1101
0

CATEGORIES

HIGHLIGHTS

Popular Tags

CheckBrand is the only platform to track your digital ranking, digital presence, and social media presence along with detailed analytics reports by which you can measure all the parameters of a digital domain.

>