I was surprised at the efficiency of my colleague who quickly gathered the history of the “person in discussion”. I was baffled and asked him, how he managed to do that.
“I Googled”, he replied. And I was dumbfounded.
Googled – what on the earth does this mean? Simple – he used search engine “Google” and because he did it some time back, (past tense) and he proudly pronounced “ I GOOGLED “
On a more serious note, I am wondering if for a day all of us stopped “GOOGLING”, what would happen? Scary thought, isn’t it!
Simple, my boss would be furious over me for not producing even a single report and would GOGGLE at me for being useless….
Come on, now that’s what we researchers call it as “web research”. Welcome to the Information age, where a handful of repositories of knowledge control the world, your beliefs, profiles and your phone numbers…Truly global, isn’t it?
(PS: With no malice towards “Google” owners. This particular thought occurred to me while analyzing modern knowledge control systems as a part of my study on Participatory research)
Welcome to the global world! The essential nature of globalization is evident by the enthusiasm shown by Indian households to switch on their television sets at 5 am on 5th November and eagerly look at the US presidential election exit poll results. Yes it has been a historic election for the world as Obama sweeps clear majority - the first African American President. Whether it is his ancestral village in Kenya or a techie office in India, all eyes has been set on the electoral outcome. Not to mention the world markets that react positively immediately after Democrat’s majority.
Having followed the process with enthusiasm for some time, there is a lot for India (and other democracies) to learn at least from this entire process of campaigning and conducting the election. Here are a couple of things that caught my appreciation till the Election Day:
# The way both the candidates have designed their campaigns clearly shows an agenda to reach out to the common masses and sell their idea of change. Gone are the days when rallies used to be the only ways of addressing your vote bank. Both the candidates have tried to establish a more personal contact till the last day. Here is an excerpt:
We're still awaiting the final results tonight, but one thing is clear -- this grassroots movement can never be underestimated. Thank you to everyone who helped us make an astounding 1,053,791 calls today! I know it wasn't easy and many of you kept calling long after you were tired and your voice had grown hoarse, but your calls to get our supporters out the polls helped tip the scales in key battleground states like Pennsylvania and Ohio.
We've shut down our calling campaigns for the night, incredibly proud of the record amount of calls made today. You gave it your all and we couldn't have asked for more.
Thank you again for everything you've done. You've been with Barack Obama every step of this journey. This is your night.
# In the presidential debates several socio-economic issues like health education, housing, employment, pension schemes, gay marriages etc figure as points of debate. It is interesting to see how Obama has used his community organization skills to reach out to American households and convert it in to votes.
# For me from distance, it seems the process has been designed as highly user friendly. Take a look at this link at Obama’s website that guides the voter to his/her voting location. Even the election commissioner
# The exit polls brought out have been fairly accurate. The types of variables analyzed by the current exit polls are impressive. I feel India has lot to learn to improve its exit poll process and bring in the desired efficiency.
With major state elections scheduled in India this and next month, I hope someone is learning…While I am writing this, I see news flowing in with a good percentage of voter turn out in J & K...Thumbs up..But guess what...Back home, I have still not received my voter's id card in spite of several visits to local election office...
