Times of India Entertainment, the news portal that published a crass cleavage-baring post on their Twitter handle of Deepika Padukone, after seeing the post she expressed her disgust of the quality of news they are sharing on 14th September 2014 through her Twitter profile. The news portal later deleted the tweet, after criticism escalated on Twitter and other social networks against the offensive story. Instead of salvaging the situation and gracefully apologizing they told her it was a “Compliment.”

And then it is when it began, that Twitter users and industry colleagues lashed against such blatant objectification of women. They started supporting her with the hashtag #IStandWithDeepikaPadukone which was trending on Twitter for quite sometime. Here are some of the findings based on the lovely tool Talkwalker, a perfect tool for social media listening and analysing campaigns.

Overall Results

TOI posted about the story on 14th September that is when Deepika Padukone noticed and voiced her displeasure about the same. Slowly and steadily her fans & Industry colleagues started gaining awareness of this situation is when they started voicing their opinions on Twitter. As you can see on the graph below conversations around the hashtags #IStandWithDeepikaPadukone peaked since the second half of 14th September and is still creating ripples.

Total Estimated Reach

Till now the buzz surrounding the hashtag is 20.2K mentions on Twitter alone. As you can see below the graph as awareness is gaining so are the number of tweets! The reach as peaked on 15th September morning, instead of tweeting about the Monday morning blues people are telling off TOI for their improperly conduct and insult to women.

Most engaging users

Above is the list of users who have been instrumental to break news to their personal network and then creating a domino effect of awareness which are followed by enraged tweets.

Let’s take a look at tweets from her Industry colleagues who are going all out on Twitter and supporting her-

Well done @deepikapadukone ! Taken a stand for all of us. Xoxo — PRIYANKA (@priyankachopra) September 14, 2014

We have hit a new low today…forget complimenting a woman have the ability to respect a woman first… — Arjun Kapoor (@arjunk26) September 14, 2014

Appalled….shocked and disgusted at the level of disrespect shown..Deepika or any women in the world cannot and should not stand for this!! — Karan Johar (@karanjohar) September 14, 2014

Just reading TOI Ent's coverage of @deepikapadukone Stunned. A new low. Well done, Deepika, for not letting it go. Neither shall we. — Rahul Bose (@RahulBose1) September 14, 2014

Dear @TOIEntertain…with this 'compliment' , I shudder to think who this 'everyone' is you're reaching out to ? pic.twitter.com/FHN9f3FL8m — Nimrat Kaur (@NimratOfficial) September 14, 2014

Not only were her industry colleagues watching her back, but her enraged fans are still tweeting in support against this incident. Let’s take a look at some of the tweets:

Just "Unfollowed" TOI by clicking with my Middle finger. #IStandWithDeepikaPadukone #FindingFanny — Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) September 14, 2014

.@deepikapadukone rips off TOI perverts. A much needed and perfect lesson to media house.#IStandWithDeepikaPadukone pic.twitter.com/0TVY0hKUwN — Meethi Chhuri (@riya043) September 14, 2014

RT if you'll always support Deepika Padukone whatever she does or says! #IStandWithDeepikaPadukone pic.twitter.com/Je0gkjEyzv — Iyan (@IyanAmjad) September 14, 2014

https://twitter.com/aparnax/status/511093511685275648

Be the heroine of your own life, not the victim! — Nora Ephron #istandwithwomen #IStandWithDeepikaPadukone pic.twitter.com/iwEbY8uEyT — Joya Martin (@joyalabelle) September 14, 2014

https://twitter.com/JasniMohamed/status/511429463758749696

A Big round of Applause for our queen @deepikapadukone for being so so soo BRAVE!! Hats off!! RESPECT! #IStandWithDeepikaPadukone — Farheen Shaikh (@DramaQueen0628) September 15, 2014

Its not about what she wears, its about your shallow mentality, which can even make a kurta seem like a bikini. #IStandWithDeepikaPadukone — India Wants Justin (@aditi_belieber_) September 15, 2014

For many year, TOI-let was on my list for such "news". Well done for taking the stand. @deepikapadukone #IStandWithDeepikaPadukone #India — Sunil Chaula (@TapedOut) September 15, 2014

TOI still hasn’t issued any apology or tried to silence the situation, which is only enraging her fans & colleagues even more. This episode has come to show how Social Media in India has become a pathway to increase awareness and a place to vent frustration and anger. It is very important for brands to share content which appeals to their audiences and doesn’t hit a sore spot. It furthermore shows you cannot get away with any sort of information in the name of engagement.

Now we can only wait & watch how TOI tries to regain their trust among their followers and apologizes for this entire situation. Or will India be forgetting about this incident like every other incident? What do you think about this? Share with us your tweet in the comments section below.