Will you stop bullying Salman and Shah Rukh Khan on Twitter?

Twitter is a great medium. The power to access the rich, famous and powerful through a one line post has ensured the common man today is "king". But some Bollywood stars who took to the medium to reach out to their fans are finding that this "democracy" comes at a cost. Indeed, the negativity got so much that Salman Khan recently went on Twitter to ask his fans to stop vicious attacks against his friends - Shah Rukh and Aamir Khan. As he declared: "Want to follow me and want me to be here to pyar mohabbat se raho. Or I am out."

Salman is not the only Bollywood star to feel the effects of Twitter. Shah Rukh Khan too has felt the side-effects of the medium. Trolls hounded the superstar out in 2011 and in 2013. This upset King Khan so much that he wrote then: "Sad, I read so much judgements, jingoism, religious intolerance on the net. I used to think, this platform will change narrow mindedness, but no!"

The surprising thing about Twitter is the attacks come regardless of age or seniority. Rishi Kapoor found that out the hard way. "No respect for elders," he stated before signing off - though he is back again, post an outcry on Twitter - asking him to come back.

The question here is why do stars suffer so much abuse. Does total "democracy" lead to anarchy? Are all of us secretly "evil" at heart? There are no easy answers to these questions but there is a sense of absolute power amongst people who want to humiliate the star and in doing so become the "star" themselves, as people attack them for their vicious comments, which is what they want.

But that is not the entire reason. The irony of Twitter and other social media platforms is that some people don't want to hear the star's opinions, which is what the medium is meant for. Rishi Kapoor faced the most flak when he stated that there was nothing wrong in eating beef. This is also true for other stars any time they have taken a stance on an issue. The tendency among trolls is either to bully them into silence through abuse, or state their own opinions in an offensive manner. The result: Stars take the safe route by posting pictures of upcoming films or candid shots while shooting. The "democrats" have silenced democ-racy - opinions are avoided and the star shuts up.

Can stars escape this conundrum? No. Social media is a medium with no filters. And with more and more fans checking their smartphones first it is almost impossible for the stars - especially the younger ones - to avoid social media. Some have resorted to having their media managers handle their accounts but that won't help in the long run. Twitter fans want tweets from the star's keyboard. Indeed, Salman's tweets got the attention they did because the language was clearly that of the Khan's. So the message is clear, stars will have to tweet and post without a PR medium.

This will no doubt be tough. Stars are used to living in a bubble, indeed the notion of being a star is they don't live like us; don't do things like us; and are shielded from long-scale interaction with us. This cushion makes them feel all of us love them - a notion which Twitter dispels. The blow is a hit to their star power, where they realise they are no longer bigger than us and this makes them want to withdraw from social media.

But there is no way out. Salman and Shah Rukh can afford to quit the medium because they are stars pre-Twitter. The next generation stars can't afford to do so. So they'll have to get online and brave the F-words, C-words and more.