temporary as a government more important than our friendship i guess that still bugs me he addsin 2017 delhibased urban planner shalabh saxena left his inlaws whatsapp group after getting into a disagreement some people continue sending these whatsapp forwards even after youve pointed out that theyre factually incorrect and bigoted people dont like to be called out and tell you to be more patriotic instead he says he was added back but when the same cycle was repeated the group fell silent for a couple of days when no one responded to his comments he left the group for good saxena has now muted most whatsapp groups and refrains from commenting on politics except with close friends these arguments seem pointless i dont want to see those messages and feel the urge to reply he saysshivam shankar singh author of how to win an indian election says that people forwarding fake whatsapp messages are not necessarily doing it out of malicious intent theyre doing it because they believe it to be true and they want the information to reach a larger audience so that people can be more informed this level of trust on the information provided over whatsapp has its basis in peoples preexisting biases he writesa recent ipsosbbc survey threw up an interesting insight into indian hypocrisy while more than half the indians surveyed said they converse with people who hold opposing political views at least once a week 35 felt that those who hold opposing political views from their own were not worth having a conversation with nearly half also felt that those with opposing political views didnt care about the countrys future in short a majority of indians not only feel they are right but that everyone elses opinion is not worth consideringcontrary to the perception that the internet exposes us to diverse voices social media echo chambers can confirm our inherent biases usually on facebook or whatsapp people connect with likeminded people the beliefs we have might be reinforced and then there is not a lot of space for people to access opinions which are opposed to them says lipika kamra assistant professor at op jindal global university who is studying how whatsapp features in political conversation and campaignsdelhibased advertising professional jai sogani agrees i dont remember having so many arguments over politics as i have had in the last few years if a friend is saying something i dont agree with its as if i feel compelled to respond he says this impatience extends to both sides of the political spectrum if i get flak for being too right wing from friends my family criticises me for being too left wing he adds things get blown out of proportion it is as if we have all got radicalised says soganisome names changed on request