One biggest truth in the world is majority of people depend too much on people’s opinion which is called validation. Attention-seeking behaviours are driven from the need to become the centre of attention. The motivation behind this behaviour is usually ego-driven, in which case, the attention serves as validation. And its normal when occasionally people need attention. But when we see people going out of their way of seeking attention and to gain recognition from others is a serious issue. It is indicative of deeper psychological problem such as low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, insecurity etc. If a person feels that his thoughts, feelings, and emotions are not heard and understood, he may be left feeling isolated and unsupported. This, over a period, may trigger bigger psychological issues.  

Our emotions are our responsibility. None is responsible for how we feel. The moment we depend on how others treat us; we give others an opportunity to control us. 

The earlier we realize that other people’s opinions about us is none of our business, it is good for our own mental health. People can dislike us for our looks, our dressing, what we eat, how we walk, how we speak, what we eat…. the list is big. But then can we please them? Some will hate you because you remind them of their annoying relationship with someone who resembles you.

Best-selling author and podcast host Mel Robbins has gone viral after advertising the ‘let them’ theory; it is a technique for letting go of things beyond your control. The motivational speaker, who is an expert in confidence and motivation, spoke about the life-changing mindset hack on Instagram. She says life is wild and filled with ups and downs, often leaving us wondering: “do we have control over any of this?” The “Let Them” Theory is a law of detachment. A practice that can help us to manifest our desires.

Our worrying about what others think of us stems from the fear that we may be deprived of friends or confidence. This fear can, be useful sometimes – embarrassment and shame can motivate us to behave in a more respectful or appropriate manner, increasing the chances of others accepting us.

But when you know yourself well in terms of your temperament, your strengths, values, knowledge, likes and dislikes, you feel freer and stronger. People constantly change because they misjudge themselves, they cannot resolve conflicts with their own self. Knowing your top core values is like having a brighter torch to get your path through the woods. A duller light may still get you where you need to go, but you will stumble more or be lost. The torch means your self-confidence, your energy, and your happiness. 

It is better to accept that no matter what I do some people will never like me. No matter what I do some people will always like me. Both ways, it has nothing to do with me. And it’s none of my business.

Confidence helps us feel ready for life’s experiences. When we are confident, we are more likely to move forward with people and opportunities. And if things don’t work out at first, confidence helps us try again. We cannot force others to see us the way we want to be seen. We can only control our own thoughts and actions.

“Let Them” theory personifies the law of detachment, allowing the natural flow of life to go on. It is to get free from the chains of expectation or controls laid by others. The beauty of this theory is that it helps pave the way for the manifestation of our desires, unblocked by the pressure of needing to be control by others. The most important element is recognizing that we can only control our actions and reactions. We must STOP expecting validations for our actions and the circumstances that unfold. 

We are living in an era of social media. From morning to night, most of the people are glued to their smartphones checking Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, Linkedin, and YouTube everywhere at home, office, while travelling, in public transports and roads anywhere. With the increase of addiction of Internet, social media is emerging as the best mode of communication. With over 460 million internet users, India is the second largest online market, ranked only behind China. By 2021, there will be about 635.8 million internet users in India. The widespread use of social networking in India has been on the rise especially among the new generation youths.

In 2008 and 2012, the world witnessed Obama’s winning strategies using social media.  Not only was Obama the first African American to be elected president, but he was also the first presidential candidate to effectively use social media as a major campaign strategy. In 2008, American voters were sent out voting reminders on Twitter and interacting with people on Facebook was a big deal. Following his footsteps, in 2014, the BJP straight dived head strong into social media conversations. Their constant activities were aimed towards spreading awareness and having a direct connection with the voters. On a daily basis, various competing hash-tags like #NaMoInUdhampur, #KejriwalInVaranasi made debut.  Politics is a favourite topic for discussions among the young and old. The hash-tags are famous on Twitter and Twitter users get pulled into it.

Already, we are witnessing blitz of anti and pro political campaigns on our smartphones for the 2019 general elections. Advertising experts and industry leaders are betting on the overall expenditure of the campaigns worth Rs. 5,000 crore. The ruling Bhartiya Janata Party is already spending quite a bit on advancing ‘Brand Modi’ in terms of achievements of his  government in the last four years, all campaigns undertaken by the BJP and its several ministries and departments have revolved around NaMo. The main opposition Congress is also likely to spend close to Rs 1,500-2,000 crore on mass media and other Rs. 400-500 crore on digital campaign.

We cannot ignore a fact that politics and media share a complex synergistic relationship; media, politics and elections are knotted together and social media platforms have become the essential ground for the discussion of political narratives.

Recently when the Uttar Pradesh unit of the BJP met, there was one session which had a lot of outside states turn up. It was held in Meerut and attended by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Home Minister Rajnath Singh amongst others. The social media session was attended by BJP President Amit Shah. The message is clear:  if social media was the X-factor in 2014 polls, the 2019 it will be their main focus. It seems BJP plans to have a social media coordinator for every single booth in the election. Let’s consider each booth has approximately 2,000 voters which mean that the BJP social media team across the country would run into approximately four and half lakh social media coordinators.

As per the Election Commission records India has 81.5 crore voters, among them exist BJP volunteers and workers who are trained in social media. They all are armed with a Smartphone. What a fantastic strategy.  The 2019 election is few months away and already few lakhs volunteers are working. But, the BJP is looking for many more as they need to penetrate their campaigns in interiors parts of India which is too vast. BJP is on organizing spree of meetings to boost their social media campaigns. After the strategy of page pramukh worked well in Gujarat (one worker to be in charge of each page list of voters) it is decided to have two pramukhs for each page. Since every page has a front and a back.

However, globally some election experts have raised alarm against recent elections in some countries where social media campaigns influenced the election proceedings to such an extent that the democratic process came under threat. There is an alarming worry that outside interests can work to undermine the democratic process in a subtle and sneaky way. In April 2017, Facebook admitted that its platform had been exploited by governments seeking to manipulate public opinion in other countries during the presidential elections in the US and France. Facebook pledged to clamp down on such operations.

Many countries in the world are running election campaigns on social media. Look at the recent example – in the closely-fought election in Malaysia, former Prime Minister Najib Razak who is dogged by corruption allegations was ousted and arrested, and the election results were revoked. Courtiers such as Singapore and Philippines are actively proposing legislation on fake news, while Germany introduced a new law that compels social media networks to remove hate speech. Indonesia has launched a new cyber security agency as part of its efforts to deal with online religious fanaticism, online hate speech, nip terrorist groups and fake news on social media.

It has become big task for the Election Commission of India; they have set a panel to scrutinize the growing use of social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube. The panel has recommended processes to deal with violations. The nation has seen a rise in religious and ethnic tensions in recent times; few people are killed due to rumours spread on social media about child kidnappings, rapes and cow smuggling. Fake news and paid news are matters of concern and misuse on social media. The Election Commission of India is tightening rules and regulations to plug loopholes in the forthcoming general election.

Research, as a universal concept, is the process of gathering information to learn about something that is not fully known, many times it finds solution for a problem. In business, market research is the process of collecting data to determine whether a particular product/service will satisfy the needs of customers, will a new product sell, whether pricing of a product is correct or wrong, or does the packaging need an alteration. Marketing research helps organizations in multiple ways. With effective market research, an organization can gain irreplaceable information about their competitors, economic shifts, demographics, the current market trends and the spending behaviors of customers. Markets change faster than we imagine, hence it is advisable that marketers take support of MR.

For business firms, research is not only used for the purpose of learning, it is also a critical component for the sake of good decision making. Market research helps by giving marketers a picture of what is happening or what is likely to happen and, when it is soundly conducted, it offers alternative choices. For instance, good research may suggest multiple options for introducing new products, which new segment to enter, or what promotional strategies to adopt while entering new markets. In most cases marketing decisions prove less risky when the marketer can select from more than one option.

Marketing research is the foundation of marketing. Just as a well-built house/building requires a strong foundation to remain sturdy, marketing decisions need the support of research in order to be viewed favorably by customers and to stand up to competition and other external pressures. Therefore, all areas of marketing and all marketing decisions should be supported with some level of research.

While research is key to marketing decision making, it does not need to be elaborated to be effective. Sometimes small efforts, such as doing a quick search on the Internet, or interviewing a group of customers provides the needed information. However, for most marketers there are times when more intricate research work is needed and understanding the right way to conduct research, whether performing the work themselves or hiring someone else to handle it, can increase the effectiveness of these projects. Vodafone, Bharati Airtel, Hindustan Unilever, Cadbury, Coca-Cola India, PepsiCo, ITC and Sony India are some companies which are strong in marketing. These companies use marketing research for effective decision making.

YouTube began as a video dating site called “Tune in Hook Up.” Founders Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim were disappointed with limited buying, but then they had another idea. After the Janet Jackson Super Bowl fiasco (which referred as pre planned publicity stunt) they realized that finding proper videos online was surprisingly difficult. Even when you could find one, the sites were buggy and unreliable. Plus, sharing it was a chore: video email attachments were unreliable, and most sites failed to provide dedicated video links. The trio set out to solve these problems. They researched the market thoroughly, and determined that they had a great shot at solving online video better than anyone else. In 2006, Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion. The trio decide to do more research to determine the next move for their company.

Here are three reasons why market research cannot be ignored:

Market research can guarantee the success of marketing campaigns, and in-turn help improve sales: Market research not only helps in identifying new business opportunities, but also helps in designing marketing campaigns that help directly target the interest of potential consumers and help in increasing sales. Marketing research provides valuable information about the potential of a particular market segment, during a specific time, and within a particular demographic group. To choose its latest chip flavor, Frito-Lay used social media to replace focus groups and survey panels. The company asked Facebook fans to weigh in by having them click an “I’d Eat That” button next to suggested new flavors. They found that consumer tastes varied by location: they found that a beer-battered onion-ring flavor is popular in California and Ohio, while a churro flavor is a hit in New York.

Market research helps firm to keep a tab on its competitors: When marketing research is used methodically it can become a good evaluation tool that can be of great use in comparative studies. A firm can track its own progress as well as the growth of its competitors, by keeping an eye on its competitors, it can devise business strategies which can help it go ahead of its rivals. Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger put a full year of work into a new location-based, check-in app called Burbn, even developing a full-fledged iPhone app. After releasing the app, the team wisely chose to reexamine the market. “It felt cluttered, and overrun with features,” said Systrom. He and Krieger decided to face reality: they were late to the game in a trendy space already dominated by Foursquare (the city guide app). They removed almost all of their features, leaving only photos, commenting, and liking. They rebranded their business as Instagram. By looking closely at the market, understanding their strengths, and researching competitors, they were able to make the right call. The rest is history. Facebook bought Instagram in late 2012 for a whooping amount.

Market research can helps in minimizing losses in business: with market research, firms can reduce the chances of loss to a large extent. Before launching a product, they can identify potential problems and even determine the solutions. The research carried out after the launch of a new product helps in finding loopholes and devise plans to counter that loss and increase the profits. Apple has been the biggest name in technology for years. This is not necessarily because they are the most innovative. Instead, it is because they use market research to find out exactly what their customers want from their devices; they then figure out how to make those wants a reality. Their “Apple Customer Pulse” research group is a prime example. Because these are online surveys, the company is able to compile and analyze the data faster, and the surveys are easy to administer, without much effort. This makes the market research more interesting to those that participate, as well as to the company. These surveys have led to different designs and modifications of Apple products.

Smart companies use marketing research on a continual basis. They understand that if they want to keep up with the latest market trends and gain a competitive edge in the business, they need to be updated. It is well known that Lego has been a toy but more geared towards boys for many years. In a study done by the company, it was reported that only 9% of the primary users of the toy were female. Upon seeing this, the company decided to come out with a new product to entice more girls to play with Legos. Lego sent out researchers to do a four year study involving 3,500 girls and their mothers. This market research included studying the girls’ playing habits and extensive questioning regarding what would make Legos more interesting for girls.

At the conclusion of the market research, Lego came out with a new line of toys on January 1st, 2012. This line was called “Friends”. The brick colors for this line were changed to more vibrant colors. The packaging also changed, along with the porcelains included in the set. Collectibles were made to be slightly bigger to accommodate accessories such as hairbrushes and purses in their grips. All of these changes were in line with what the market research data found to be more appealing.

So friends, using research doesn’t always mean commissioning a big project with an even bigger fee. A firm collects more information and analyses it. The key is using competent and qualified research firms. Some firms are ahead of times, they conduct research on their own.

This is an era of social media. From morning to night everyone is glued to the mobile phone checking Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, You tube everywhere at home, office, traveling, on public transports and roads anywhere. With the increase of addiction of Internet, social media is emerging as the best mode of communication. Popular social media vehicles include Facebook and Twitter and WhatsApp. India has 118 million active social media accounts. Of this the more operated social media accounts is by the tech savvy youth. So it seems that the more influenced by the social media is today’s younger generation. Social media is used differently by different people for different purposes. One of the wide usages is by the politicians who harness the power of social media for achieving their political agenda. It is not an overstatement to say that social media is playing colossal role in political games.

What keeps people so engaged on the social media is rumors, false alarms, gossip and snoops.  It just takes few seconds to click the share button with others; but how do you know what you are reading and sharing is true? Today people get so swayed by the posts they receive that majority of them share posts without least checking. By doing so, they deceive themselves and others.  Its miserable, hoax items such as celebrity deaths, chain mails which previously used to be sent from emails, is now a hot item on social media because it spreads faster. Items such as election results, falsities about social network such WhatsApp will be charged, so and so or Facebook will not charged etc, scandals, and social experiments are the ones making rounds on social media.

Some false alarms lead to serious realities; as in September this year, in Uttar Pradesh a rumor took life of a person called “Akhlaq” in Greater Noida’s Bisada village. The 58-year-old handyman was attacked by a lynch mob that set upon his residence after rumors that a cow had been slaughtered there and the family had beef in the house.

This photo did the rounds on social media a few years ago, and the people in the snapshot clicking photographs made it seem more authentic. However, this image is nothing but a product of Photoshop as the two extra heads were copy pasted. This news made terrible rounds on social media saying “king cobra with three faces found on national highway” The people in the frame were clicking photos of a regular king cobra. This is height of stupid rumors.

This story broke on Whatsapp and Twitter with the Delhi Police apparently warning consumers from drinking Pepsi or Frooti as the blood of one of the factory workers who was HIV positive had accidentally mixed with a certain batch of the drink. The message claimed that the story was reported by NDTV as well. But both Delhi Police and NDTV denied those reports. In fact, HIV cannot even spread via ‘infected’ food.

Yo-Yo Honey Singh was one of the victims of the celebrity death hoax with a photo of the rapper lying in a hospital bed doing the rounds. But the photo was from his music video ‘Bring Me Back’ and a message was soon sent out from his Twitter handle that Yo Yo was safe and sound. Similarly despite what you may have read, Jeff Goldblum, Natalie Portman, George Clooney, Britney Spears, Harrison Ford and Rick Astley are alive. Some pervert minds enjoy spreading false news about other’s deaths. God alone knows, what enjoyment they get by doing so.

Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. They conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research. The centre does not take policy positions. One of the Pew research study in December 2012 established that nearly 45% of the Indian web users connect on social media to discuss politics. People particularly youth are staying updated with the news through social media. By the exposure to the abundant information every day, the youth are getting more engaged in politics. They are debating, expressing their views on politics through social media. Many of the politicians are staying close to people through social media.

Young minds are vulnerable. They get captivated towards new things and happenings around them. Earlier the political discussions were limited to middle aged and old people but now youth is also involved in political discussions and social media is a platform for all the youth to share and express their views.

Rumors don’t spare even Gods; due to heavy insistent rainfalls in November this year, the Tirumala Tirupati shrine in the interests of safety of pilgrims had diverted the vehicular traffic through link road near the second ghat road. The management of the shrine kept 24 hours vigilance on the traffic, engineers and forest officials worked day and night in regulating the traffic without a mark of incident. In spite of smooth management, rumors were spread that the shrine is closed; devotees cannot take darshan of the Lord. The Joint Executive Officer of TTD, Tirumala, Sri KS Sreenivasa Raju strongly denied the rumors spread on social media about the closure of Tirumala shrine following rain havoc, which he termed as “baseless”. This shrine has never been closed for a single day and will never be closed ever.

The situation is calling attention to the changing state of the news media: as information online moves faster and comes from more sources, it’s more difficult to verify what’s true and what may be shockingly false and people get influenced so easily. Social media has given rise to spin doctors. A spin doctor is a person (often a political aide) responsible for ensuring that others interpret an event from a particular point of view. It also means a person who publicizes favorable interpretations of words and actions of public figures especially a politician.

Research shows that people who gossip the most have very high levels of anxiety. They are generally are not popular because they cannot be trusted. They are mentally sick. All said and done, I would say that social media has given rise to nothing but rumor madness.