Understanding Web 2.0: The Extensions of Emotional Release and Status: Uses and Gratification Theory in the Context of Kashmir

There is no denying the fact that what is the importance of Social Media in our lives in the contemporary society. It has the power to influence the Fourth Estate. People use it to gratify their needs. They are able to release their emotions through this potent media. If their emotions are suppressed by banning of social media, it resulted in uncontrolled dangerous problems. In Kashmir, we witnessed the 150 days non-stop blockages of social media by Jammu and Kashmir government in 2016. The people of Kashmir witnessed this process of banning 28 times over the last five years. In the current year, i.e. 2017, the incumbent government has ordered the internet service providers to again block 22 social media websites. It was criticized by every section of the society. This makes the present study very important to know what gratifications people of Kashmir miss the most when social media is banned.