Image credit : Illustrative Image

Bengaluru: It doesn’t take much for a video to go viral these days–abuses, sex talks and low life humour is all you need for a video to go viral.

And the youth of today finds slapstick funny, finds offensive statements funny–and social media has become a place for all those who propagate or thrive on this. And this time, it is a bit too much for anyone to digest. A video of a Kerala youth abusing and threatening to turn a terrorist has gone viral. And all this destructive material has been shot sitting in a jail. Yes, a place that should scare away most notorious of elements, have been used as a backdrop for a mindless video. And that’s not all, this is being lapped up by our netizens. “Social media is full of narcissists. Gore and weird things sell here. The weider, the stranger—more the chances of it going viral,” says Priyanka Mukherjee, a social observer.

The video shows a man sitting with his legs on a chair, pointing towards a policeman. In the video, the man threatens to blow up the police station, abuses the policemen. “In the video, the policemen are ignoring such attention craving criminal. He isn’t a hardened criminal, no wonder he is making such claims. But having said that, he should have been punished for this,” says Ratul Roy, who has watched the video.

The man hails from Kottapadi, Kerala. He was arrested for hurling abuses at a traffic cop. He was taken to the Guruvayur Police Station where he threw tantrums and broke a wooden chair as a result. But that isn’t it. His friends dropped by to check on him, where they take selfies. Almost like we meet friends in restaurants. “I wonder what were these policemen doing? I mean why did they allow such a thing to happen. Now the jails have become a hangout zone? Lets not make a mockery of the law and order,” adds Ratul.

But if you are still wondering what made this video go viral. “Social media works in a very haphazard way. If something touched the sentiments of people, or they find it good for a laugh, then it goes viral. No study has been able to point out the determinant to make a video viral. Look at Dhincak Pooja and the contents that she puts out. She has million followers. So, one doesn’t what will be a social media hit. Though one can argue that it is a reflection of our society, but i would refrain from value judging,” explains Prithvi Radhakrishna, a media consultant.