Social Networking in India (Part 1)
Lately I have been getting a lot of invites from different social networking sites that are from India. Last year (year 2006) we have witnessed a lot of funding for many social networking sites in India. So I did some research on many social networking sites (SNS) and thought of putting my thoughts together about those sites in multi part series of this blog.
There are many out of the box software that’s been sold which will help you create a brand new social networking site with just a couple of mouse clicks. Being said that there are many such sites in India, some are backed up by major VC’s and some are not even funded. SNS are used by the teens and early and late 20’s of India and marketers are looking for an opportunity to tap into this segment by any medium possible. Before I dwell into the details about the sites in India here are my thoughts about the potential barriers of getting a critical mass in social networking in India
Accessibility to the Internet – I believe that’s the key for SNS be it in any part of the world. In the US more that three quarters of the household has accessibility to the internet and needless to say the kids (teens) themselves has access to the internet anytime they need it. However in India it’s not that easy one has to either go to surfing centers. If they have it at home, it might be based on a limited access basis.
Collaborative nature – the key to SNS or Web2.0 based sites are that the participants are collaboratively sharing information. In the Web1.0 era we were accessing information from the web. However in the Web2.0 era it’s more of feeding and sharing information. The same applies to the SNS. My view point is not many Indians are very sharing in nature when it came to an online world. I have been talking to many of my friends in India about how they use the SNS.. all they say is… they get there to just check if any messages are there.. no blogging.. no posting… which is key to SNS.
I could keep talking about why the social networking sites won’t be a hit in India, at least for right now. In spite of these shortcomings there are several SNS in India right now. Here is a list.
Look out for more parts of the series where I will be talking about the various social networking sites listed above and a detailed comparison of it.
Social networking scene in India at Blogbharti said,
June 8, 2007 @ 12:41 am
[…] Anumks has started a series of post on the social networking sites in India. Keep a tab on it. Lately I have been getting a lot of invites from different social networking sites that are from India. Last year (year 2006) we have witnessed a lot of funding for many social networking sites in India. So I did some research on many social networking sites (SNS) and thought of putting my thoughts together about those sites in multi part series of this blog. Linked by Krish […]
Shubham said,
June 8, 2007 @ 5:10 am
A good article, however I would disagree that SNS won’t work in India. SNS is already working in India, orkut has a huge number of Indians. The only thing missing is the presence of online transactions and advertising/selling medium. As soon as it comes in India will rock.