The Internet is a powerful tool. While it is being used to spread fake news and hateful messages nowadays, it also continues to be a resource that brings people together. This year has not been an easy one for India, and for the world. We are still reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic. But, in times of great crisis, people tend to surprise you with their compassion.
Let’s take a look at some heartwarming moments from the Internet this year, in the hopes that we all learn to be kinder to each other, and to ourselves.
#1 Global icons like Rihanna, Mia Khalifa, Greta Thunberg, tweeted their support to the farmers’ protest.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently announced his government’s decision to repeal three, contentious farm laws, to do with reforms in the sector. One of the reasons for this can be assumed to be the international support the farmers received.
The farmers managed to make their demands reach a global audience and garnered backing from international celebrities and activists alike.
#2 Singer and actor, Diljit Dosanjh’s cute interaction with a fan on Instagram.
Diljit is known for his humour and humility. He displayed both in equal measure as he interacted with a fan on an Instagram live. He used the English he knew to wish her and her family well, as she praised him for his songs. What left fans aww-ing was when he couldn’t figure out how to end the interaction with her. The both of them struggled for quite a bit, before he managed to end it.
#3 People came to each other’s aid during the pandemic
One knows that the public health system was woefully inadequate in helping ordinary Indians tide over the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The second wave was particularly brutal in that it affected more people and younger people. Also, the death toll was considerably higher this time, when compared to the death toll caused by the previous wave.
In such a scenario, it was heartwarming to see people come to each others’ aid and amplify calls for help (be it for oxygen cylinders or hospital beds) on social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram.
Journalist Rituparna Chatterjee tweeted how her mom’s life was saved thanks to tireless efforts by Janice Sequeira in ensuring that an oxygen cylinder reached her.
#4 Unnamed volunteers diligently updated Covid-19 data for 17 months.
www.covid19india.org was a website run by a group of unnamed volunteers, who got together to provide reliable data on everything to do with the pandemic in India, without expecting any monetary gains.
Be it journalists, academics, or anyone else who was curious about the latest data on the virus and its impact in India—the website was acting as a credible source of information for all.
The group’s decision to stop updating data at the end of October was met with sorrow and gratitude. They said to The Economic Times, “In our absence, we are hopeful that someone else can fill in the space since most of the states are regular with bulletins now.”
“All our code and data is open-sourced and anyone can fork our project (copy the repository and experiment) and continue if they wish to—in the spirit of how we’ve run the project till now, there’ll be no licensing or attribution associated with any of our code or data,” they added.
#5 The #FreeBritney movement was able to free Britney Spears.
American pop icon Britney Spears was able to successfully terminate her conservatorship, which lasted for over a decade (13 years to be precise). Conservatorship refers to legal guardianship where one’s conservator has a say over many aspects of one’s life.
She has consistently said that her father Jamie Spears, also her conservator, abused the power he held over her, her finances and her personal life. Many people on the Internet took note of this and ran a social media campaign highlighting her plight.
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, the pop star thanked her fans who saved her life, according to her. I am not crying… You’re crying.
#6 Simone Biles pulled out of the Olympics and netizens flooded her with support.
Simon Biles is a medal-winning, champion gymnast. She dropped out of the recently-held Tokyo Olympics citing mental health reasons. Her timeline was instantly flooded with an outpouring of support.
Biles spoke about how the support and love she received made her realise for the first time in her life that she is more than just an athlete. Mental health is important. Taking breaks is important. Prioritising one’s health over so-called success is important. The Internet agrees!
#7 Twitter suspended former US president Donald Trump and Indian actress Kangana Ranaut’s accounts.
Both Donald Trump and Kangana Ranaut were infamous for tweeting hateful and fake information before their Twitter accounts were permanently suspended. Trump and Kangana would regularly tweet nonsense about all sorts of topics including elections, mental health, and whatnot.
While Kangana’s ‘hot takes’ post the West Bengal elections was the straw that broke the camel’s back in her case; for Donald Trump, it was his voicing of support for the rioters who stormed the US Capitol.
Everyone (with two brain cells or more) on Twitter breathed a sigh of relief as the platform put an end to them spouting ridiculous statements on a regular basis.
#8 A dying scientist raised funds for students from underrepresented backgrounds.
Nadia Chaudhri was a Pakistani-Canadian psychologist and a former professor at Concordia University. Unfortunately, she lost her life to cancer.
But, what’s heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time is that she was raising funds for students from underrepresented backgrounds (women, LGBTQIA+ folks etc.) in the sciences, while she was simultaneously battling stage 3 ovarian cancer.
The neuroscientist with terminal cancer, used her final months to raise funds for graduate students from diverse backgrounds, and educate the public about her disease—through her widely followed Twitter page.