Have A Heart: Engineering Social Change That Actually Works

Time to read: 5-7 minutes

What do you feel when you watch the video below?

This video got over 3 million views on YouTube

If you’re like me, the video made you feel very uneasy. There is no doubt in my mind that whoever carried out this campaign had their intentions right. Urinating and defecating in public and on public property is rampant in India. No doubt, it is a major public hygiene issue and one that needs to be addressed. However, is vigilante justice and such a dramatic one at that the answer? To me, it seems almost Batman-esque and gothic in the extreme. Everything about the contents of the video says something: The fact that the men who wield the water cannon wear masks not only says they do not wish to be identified, it also shows they understand that they are executing a form of justice that is not civic-minded and therefore operating outside the law.

Off the top of my head, here are some questions to ponder:

• What could have been done differently?
• Shouldn't a campaign with similar objectives be executed by government?
• What would such a campaign have looked like if it was done properly?
• What would they have done differently to make it successful?
• What of the millions of slum-dwellers and the rural populace that urinate and defecate in the open.
• What solutions do we have for these people?
• How will we encourage people to use public toilets where there aren’t any decent options?

The "Pissing Tanker" video set off a trend that involved virulently embarrassing people. In one, those who peed in public were photographed and branded "Moothiyas" on social media. There was another where one guy pees on another.

This stuff is not well-meaning. It is not even benign. It involves "JackAss"-style open and public humiliation.

My question here is: What does that achieve - Other than getting these folks insane page views on YouTube and thus a certain amount of money? What is the social benefit of these campaigns?

Contrast these with this incredibly heartful video by Tanishq

Or this poignant one by Samsung

Adweek.com has a ton of stories about well-thought-out and superbly executed Indian social media campaigns that social campaigners could take inspiration from. Let's ask a couple of questions here.

How Did These Brands Manage To Really Tug At Heartstrings And Market Themselves Powerfully?

For one thing, they have a brand

They have a humanised ideal that they can use as a lighthouse - a reference point - to see if they're heading in the right direction with something. They can look at ideas as they shape up and compare them to the brand image they have carefully studied and put together. They also must consider the social and civic responsibilities of the company and the brand.
Social Media activists such as the makers of the Pissing Tanker and other similar videos have a brand ideal too.

It's just they get carried away with their sense of justice. Imagine what would happen if they pictured their ideal and captured that on video?

Social Media And Social Change

Engineering social change is never easy. But it takes four important components to effectively bring it about: a) Education; b) empowerment and d) encouragement.

Take the way people drive these days for instance. Everybody knows something is wrong, but to my knowledge, only the traffic police of Bangalore and Mumbai are doing anything about it at all. There is no interest in reform or support for initiatives from the Central Government. No politician or public figure is speaking out. This is a collective lack of awareness, a kind of lack of consensus.

Once everybody is aware - Once together consciously knows and agrees that we have a problem on our hands - the momentum quickly appears.

Education

Think of this stage as simply giving everybody involved behavioural options. i.e. How else should we behave on the roads in order to make driving safer, less irritating, more pleasurable and so on? For instance, imagine helping people understand when it is a good idea to leave our cars and walk, bicycle, take the bus or metro. Perhaps software apps could tell us when we will both save money and get some excercise by just walking. This is where Government or NGOs come in. Large scale information dissemination, reforms in the way we put vehicles on the road and hand out driving licenses would start somewhere here.

Empowerment

Imagine helping people understand that change is each of us driving responsibly. Imagine using mass media to tell people that when the social norm changes to driving in a way that helps traffic move smoothly and with minimum inconvenience to everybody involved.

Imagine showing people that beautiful ideal world and telling them they have the power to make it happen. That they have the power not tomorrow, but right now.

Encouragement

This is where we would take some positive case studies, some real success stories and start motivating others to join the bandwagon. It is the last stage where even when people know why they need to change and what they need to accomplish it, they still need a little push. It works by setting the heart on fire, not pants. It motivates through inspiration. Though emotional appeal, which is far more memorable and persistent as a change agent. Case studies also work simply because it is easier to get people to imitate an ideal than to let them figure it out.

In the end, social change or reform is not easy. Those who strive to do it need all the help they can get. And they would do well to win even their opponent or the wrong-doer over.

Do you agree? Leave a comment below.