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Ground Report | New Delhi: 18 years old Ishrat Zaman from Kashmir's Kupwara came across an online application through one of her friend's social media account, which has helped to showcase and improve her for writing skills.
Kashmir is home to various talents like calligraphy, handicrafts, poetry, storytelling, music etc. Since ages Kashmir has witnessed and produced great arts and artists, which both have been a great part of its culture. The Kashmiri folk songs, be it kaeshir baeth or chakkeir, speak volumes about the poetic tastes Kashmiris have had over the years. In past, only the acknowledged artists and poets came into light and were recognised but with the invent and the emergence of online platforms the course is changing. Young people are now taking to various social media platforms and online sites to showcase their talent. There are many young writers who have achieved great name and fame by posting their content online.
Ishrat in conversation with Ground Report said, " I was scrolling down through my friend's Instagram account when I saw a link in her bio. I clicked on the link and it landed me on Mirakee. I was so fascinated by the writings that I created my account and started posting my write-ups on it specifically my poetry and it is such a good platform to improve your grammar and vocabulary. I've improved alot through it. Besides Mirakee I used YourQuote as well because it has grammatical and poetical challenges so it provided me with the opportunities to learn more and improve."
There are many people who are not confident in showcasing their work as well, so they start using online blogging sites like WordPress, Mirakee, YourQuote etc. and social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. These online platforms have provided opportunities for budding writers to explore their talents widely.
26 years old Snober who writes under the pen name "Fajar" told the Ground Report, " When I started writing I did not share it with anyone in person. I posted it online through my Instagram handle. The response and the praise were definitely overwhelming. I used to receive so many DMs for collaborations and people asked me if they could publish my work. It boosted my confidence alot. I have other friends as well who garnered alot of praise online for their writing." Through Instagram, Fajar refined her writing skills and it gave her the opportunity to improve her content as a result, she ended up writing and publishing a book.
Another girl who writes online told Ground Report, "At first I was not much confident about my writing, I was very insecure but seeing the positive response I gained the confidence to continue. My another biggest fear was telling about it to my parents but when I showed them the online response I was getting they supported me."
Writing and posting the poetry and stories online has given confidence and liberty to a lot of people. They feel like they are opening up in the right sense and work in the right direction.
However, these online platforms are equally challenging as well. There are people who face trolling and backlash for thier write ups. Sometimes while posting some content online it does not go well with the policies of the site or the app and hence is removed. Cases of plagiarism are witnessed as well.
A 17 years old girl on the grounds of anonymity told Ground Report that her work was copied and published by many people without even asking her. "I was one day scrolling through my feed when a post caught my eye, I was stunned to see my own poetry which I had shared on Instagram on somebody else's account, it was terrible," she said.
There have been many such cases where the work was copied and published by many pages without giving any credits. But the biggest challenge according to some writers is that online writing or online poetry lacks feelings and sense.
Huzaif Bukhari a storyteller and a poet said, " Online sites and applications though provide the platform to cater your write-ups to a large audience, is not doing justice with the essence of the poetry and the stories yet. Poetry is not just mere words it is also the feelings, until and unless the readers do not feel the poem they cannot judge it. And online that is not possible. In a face to face interaction, we can make people feel our words but online people just double-tap the post and scroll down. So I think writing online is challenging." Huzaif added," In literature, the most important thing is relating and connecting to the words, which is difficult through online medium. So in a way you are loosing the value of your words, your story. If your reader is not able to understand, even if your content is of a high calibre, it looses its value."
Online platforms are also helping people in earning now. People are able to sell their content online and earn for themselves. For a lot of people discovered online what they were interested in. For some people, the online mediums and platforms have proved to be very opportunistic and very blessed but there are people who think that online medium is changing the whole sense of writing.
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