India: Numbers and Opinions · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Kafila on the use of numbers in the media and beyond in gauging public opinion, reflecting aspirations and instant voting on cellphones on people's fates. “With the spread of cheap computers and design software in the 1990’s the statistical image became ubiquitous, standing in as an explanation of the contingencies of elections, the weather, crime and public opinion in general. The more unpredictable, dangerous and contingent modern experience became, the more widespread the use of the statistical image as a knowledge form to explain the world. “