The Delhi Gang Rape, the beheading of our jawans at the LoC, the raging youth, this Republic Day Celebrations at New Delhi and throughout the country had all the stones laid for being boycotted. It was called the National awakening, the beginning of a new era in the democracy of India. But then as Indians is our nationalist sentiment that high that we forget everything and unite to celebrate the Republic Day of our nation or is it our nature to move on and embrace the present and let go off the past.
In the recent study conducted by ThoughtBuzz on the buzz the Online media received for the Republic Day 2013, we found answers to the questions that arise in our minds with respect to the Republic Day:
· Did the current issues such as the Delhi Gang Rape case and its subsequent repercussions in the society & beheading of Indian soldiers at the LoC impact the Republic Day celebrations in our country?
· Has Republic Day become a day for Discounts and Special deals for the brands to increase their sales?
· Does Republic Day mean just a holiday for a lot of us or do we realize the essence of the day?
There was commotion and the nation was burning in rage from the ‘Nirbhaya’ case and the beheading of our soldiers at the LoC. It was intended to be a national boycott of the Republic Day, however people seem to have forgotten it all and the social media was buzzing with “Happy Republic Day” greetings all the way.
Did the current issues impact the Republic Day celebrations in our country?
· Out of the total buzz, 20% accounted for the mentions on the Gang Rape, LoC killings and the Public Outrage on the instable structure of the National Security and the Government of India.
· Out of the total buzz analysed, 49% accounts for positive posts and 23% accounted for negative posts on Republic Day
· Amongst the positive posts, 36% were found to be around people exchanging Republic Day Greetings, looking forward to the Republic Day Parade and celebrating the Republic Day and amongst the negative posts 86% were the Delhi Gang Rape, LoC Killings and Outrage related posts.
· The buzz intensity was focused on Republic Day and its celebration towards 26th January while the outrage tweets on boycotting of the Republic Day and the unreliable GoI were far lesser in number nearing the Republic Day.
Has Republic Day become a day for Discounts and Special deals for the brands to increase their sales?
· The special Republic Day sales, deals, discounts and contests constitute for about 13% of the direct data (59%) on Republic Day.
· Micro blogging platform, Twitter, is used by the brands as a preferred platform for promoting their sales and contests.
· The content is pushed by the brands strategically across a wide range of period across different platforms to gain maximum traction.
Does Republic Day mean just a holiday for a lot of us or do we realize the essence of the day?
· Amidst all the noise on Republic Day online, the least number of mentions (1%)were about people treating Republic Day as just a holiday. If it is sufficient or not to derive that we have started to understand the essence of the day or not however can’t be concluded basis just this figure.
