Large numbers of Indians - over an estimated 300 million citizens with internet-enabled mobile phones at present - have been receiving unprecedented amounts of fake, false, half-true, hateful, inflammatory (or incendiary) information in the recent past and are going to receive more such information during the general elections, the results of which will be known on 23 May 2019. The so-called WhatsApp army of the right-wing ruling regime has been 'weaponised' to influence political outcomes. Facebook and its sister social media platform, WhatsApp, are not really neutral and agnostic as they claim they are. They have been complicit in promoting the interests of Narendra Modi and his supporters in the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh for some time now, well before Modi became Prime Minister of India in May 2014. Even as the world's largest social media organisation of its kind is increasingly being questioned in different countries, this book takes a critical look at the working of Facebook and WhatsApp in India.

'Political technology' is a Russian term for the professional engineering of politics. It has turned Russian politics into theatre and propaganda, and metastasised to take over foreign policy and weaponise history. The war against Ukraine is one outcome. In the West, spin doctors and political consultants do more than influence media or run campaigns: they have also helped build parallel universes of alternative political reality. Hungary has used political technology to dismantle democracy. The BJP in India has used it to consolidate unprecedented power. Different countries learn from each other. Some types of political technology have become notorious, like troll farms or data mining; but there is now a global wholesale industry selling a range of manipulation techniques, from astroturfing to fake parties to propaganda apps. This book shows that 'political technology' is about much more than online disinformation: it is about whole new industries of political engineering.

This timely release explores the community-altering phenomenon of social networking sites and what it reveals about friendship, God, and our own hearts. With hundreds of millions of users, social networks are changing how we form relationships, perceive others, and shape our identity. Yet at its core, this movement reflects our need for community. Our longing for intimacy, connection, and a place to belong has never been a secret, but social networking offers us a new perspective on the way we engage our community. How do these networks impact our relationships? In what ways are they shaping the way we think of ourselves? And how might this phenomenon subtly reflect a God who longs to connect with each one of us? The Church of Facebook explores these ideas and much more, offering a revealing look at the wildly popular world of online social networking.

One of the Best Technology Books of 2020—Financial Times “Levy’s all-access Facebook reflects the reputational swan dive of its subject. . . . The result is evenhanded and devastating.”—San Francisco Chronicle “[Levy’s] evenhanded conclusions are still damning.”—Reason “[He] doesn’t shy from asking the tough questions.”—The Washington Post “Reminds you the HBO show Silicon Valley did not have to reach far for its satire.”—NPR.org The definitive history, packed with untold stories, of one of America’s most controversial and powerful companies: Facebook As a college sophomore, Mark Zuckerberg created a simple website to serve as a campus social network. Today, Facebook is nearly unrecognizable from its first, modest iteration. In light of recent controversies surrounding election-influencing “fake news” accounts, the handling of its users’ personal data, and growing discontent with the actions of its founder and CEO—who has enormous power over what the world sees and says—never has a company been more central to the national conversation. Millions of words have been written about Facebook, but no one has told the complete story, documenting its ascendancy and missteps. There is no denying the power and omnipresence of Facebook in American daily life, or the imperative of this book to document the unchecked power and shocking techniques of the company, from growing at all costs to outmaneuvering its biggest rivals to acquire WhatsApp and Instagram, to developing a platform so addictive even some of its own are now beginning to realize its dangers. Based on hundreds of interviews from inside and outside Facebook, Levy’s sweeping narrative of incredible entrepreneurial success and failure digs deep into the whole story of the company that has changed the world and reaped the consequences.

Kirkpatrick tells us how Facebook was created, why it has flourished, and where it is going next. He chronicles its successes and missteps.

A New York Times bestseller—over one million copies sold! A National Book Award winner A Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winner Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live. With a forward by Markus Zusak, interviews with Sherman Alexie and Ellen Forney, and black-and-white interior art throughout, this edition is perfect for fans and collectors alike.

Young or old, rich or poor, Hindu or Muslim, all unite at one platform; it's the India Book of Re-cords 2021. The year 2021 can be called the year of record making as more records are created and even more records are attempted than any other year in the past, leading to the breaking of our own boundaries to present you a bigger and thicker India Book of Records 2020. Arguably this is the biggest national book of records ever produced by any country, which in itself can be called a record. Truly, Indians create more re-cords than anyone else on the planet. While many of the Indian record holders achieved a place in Asia Book of Records and World Record Union, more than 50 Indian re-cord holders featured in a plat-form created by the initiative of three countries that produce the India Book of Records, Viet-nam Book of Records and Indonesia Book of Records to showcase the top record holders at the global stage. As you are holding 'India Book of Records 2021', surely some of the records will inspire you to challenge yourself to create a record and see your name in India Book of Records 2021.

The world's preeminent word-of-mouth marketing experts demonstrate how in-person social networking, not online marketing, is the secret to soaring revenues.

WhatsApp is used by over half a billion people in India today in all fields – in business, corporate and informal sectors, in government, for education and among friends, families and acquaintances. This book critically explores the social messaging app’s rapid expansion in India and its growing influence and looks at whether, as a form of horizontal communication, it poses a challenge to more traditional structures of communication. The book examines WhatsApp’s spread in the personal and professional lives of Indians and the myriad ways in which people in India are using the app in social and business interactions, including among people living with disabilities. Using case studies, interviews, surveys and in-depth research, it analyses key aspects of WhatsApp’s massive popularity and its impact on how people communicate. It also explores its impact on the psycho-social dynamics in India, including the dissemination of fake news and politically motivated content, and the consequent need for media regulation in the country. One of the first books to analyse the pervasiveness of WhatsApp and social media apps in different areas of Indian society, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of media studies, communication studies, digital media, cultural studies, cyberculture studies, sociology and social policy and media law.