Anand Mahindra, chairman of Mahindra Group and one of the most Twitter-savvy businessmen today, has harnessed the power of social media to reach millions of people. However, there is a drawback to social media too, as the 66-year-old found when he came across a post with a quote wrongly attributed to him. According to the post, Mr Mahindra said stock market trading should be made a compulsory subject in middle school.
Anand Mahindra said he was "flattered" to be seen as someone whose words were worthy enough to be quoted, but that the popular quote, which has been widely shared online, is not actually his.
The post purportedly contains some "life changing advice" from Anand Mahindra. "Anand Mahindra recently said in a speech 'Stock market trading should be made compulsory in middle school education'," it reads.
"I'm flattered that some believe my statements are quotable and I've always believed in the power of social media to democratise information and share knowledge," wrote Anand Mahindra while sharing the quote last night. "But the downside is wrongly attributed quotes! I'll do my best to call them out whenever possible..." he added.
I'm flattered that some believe my statements are quotable & I've always believed in the power of social media to democratise information & share knowledge. But the downside is wrongly attributed quotes! I'll do my best to call them out whenever possible… pic.twitter.com/2D3XrD4GpH
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) September 2, 2021
His tweet has racked up nearly 5,000 'likes' and dozens of comments since being shared.
One Twitter user shared a handy short-cut for the businessman to call out fake news.
Love it. ???????? https://t.co/P0LJDhU9fj
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) September 2, 2021
Another shared a hilarious meme that amused Mr Mahindra too
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) September 2, 2021
One person called it a "great initiative" to tackle fake news.
A great initiative and step - a lot of so called quotes are spread over social media.
— Umesh Human (@UmeshHuman) September 2, 2021
Last year, industrialist Ratan Tata also called out a post with remarks wrongly attributed to him. "This post has neither been said, nor written by me. I urge you to verify media circulated on WhatsApp and social platforms," Mr Tata said at the time, reacting to the post which linked "huge downfall of economy" to coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic.
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