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  • Gaurav Mishra 8:07 pm on March 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: BharatMatrimony, , , , , I-CUBE, , , , , Like, , , , , , , , , , NRS, , Readership, , , , , , , , , , Trendsotting, Vernacular,   

    Three Dimensions of Differentiation for Indian Social Networking Sites 

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    Quick Summary: Read why language (English vs. vernacular), mode of access (Internet vs. mobile) and social dynamics (global vs. Indian) will be the three dimensions of differentiation for Indian social networking sites.

    - X – X – X -

    In my previous post, I wrote about why Indian social networking sites need to differentiate themselves –

    Most of the Indian social networking sites are basically India-focused Facebook/ MySpace/ Orkut/ LinkedIn clones. Such clones would only be popular amongst a small set of twenty-something Indians in metros who won’t want a clone anyways.

    I also presented a typology of Indian social networking sites on a 2X2 matrix with Indian-vs-global social dynamics on the X-axis and Indian-vs-global user appeal on the Y-axis –

    A Typology of Indian Social Networks

    – and suggested that –

    To really build an identity and a broad Indian user base for themselves, Indian social networking sites need to reflect the unique nature of relationships in the Indian society.

    Three Dimensions of Differentiation: Language, Access and Social Dynamics

    Based on the discussion in the comments section and on Twitter, Facebook and e-mail, I have realized that there are, in fact, three dimensions of differentiation for Indian social networking sites — language (English vs. vernacular), mode of access (Internet vs. mobile) and social dynamics (global vs. Indian).

    Three Dimensions of Differentiation for Indian Social Networking Sites

    Why is Social Dynamics a Dimension of Differentiation?

    I have already illustrated in my previous post how an offering that reflects the unique Indian social dynamics is likely to be well-adopted by Indian users –

    Matrimonial sites like BharatMatrimony, JeevanSaathi and Shaadi are the Indian equivalent of international dating sites. A lot of my Indian friends who wouldn’t risk being seen on a dating site, use matrimonial sites basically to meet interesting people they can date (and, just maybe, marry).

    In this post, I’ll share some numbers with you to illustrate how language and access are the other two dimensions of differentiation for Indian social networking sites.

    Why Vernacular Languages and Mobile Will Drive Web Usage in India

    Why is Language a Dimension of Differentiation?

    According to various sources, the number of Internet users in India is estimated to be between 20mn and 30 mn. According to NRS 2006, the readership of English language newspaper is only 26 mn, less than 10% of the overall readership of newspapers in India. Given that English is the predominant language on Internet in India, is it any surprise that English language newspaper readership in India and Internet usage in India are in the same ballpark? Also, if you flip the numbers, vernacular language newspaper readership in India is ten times higher than English language readership in India. It’s probably reasonable to project that, if vernacular language Internet was to become popular in India, Internet usage in India will potentially increase tenfold.

    Why is Access a Dimension of Differentiation?

    According to TRAI, there are 250 mn mobile phones in India compared to only 3 mn broadband connections. It is also estimated that there are 38 mn mobile web users in India (note: I’m still searching for a reliable source). Even if we leave alone mobile web, 250 mn Indians have access to SMS compared to the 20 mn to 30 mn Indians who have access to Internet and the 3 mn Indians who have access to broadband. Not only that, mobile phone access is more widely distributed across both urban and urban Indian than Internet access. It’s quite a no-brainer, therefore, that web usage in India will be driven by the mobile web (with SMS integration) and not the PC web.

    Early Signs: Micro-Blogging and Mobile-Blogging in India

    While Twitter is still very niche in India, Indian micro-blogging networks like MyToday MOBS and Webaroo SMSGupShup have wide user bases –

    ‘We expect users in excess of 20 million before the end this year,” says Webaroo vice president Chirag Jain. (HT)

    I’m sure that a large percentage of these 20 mn users will be passive users, who only receive messages instead of sending them. However, it’s no laughing matter that one micro-blogging service in India claims to have almost the same number of users as the entire Internet user base in India.

    Expect more action in the micro-blogging and mobile-blogging space with Reliance and Nokia entering the space.

    The Killer Indian Social Networking Site

    So, what will the killer Indian social networking site be like?

    I’m sure that the killer Indian social networking site will be differentiated along all the three dimensions of language, access and social dynamics –

    - It will offer users a unique value based on Indian social dynamics beyond friending and following people.

    - It will offer users deep content in a wide range of vernacular languages and not only English.

    - It will offer users multiple access points, including PC web, mobile web, SMS (and maybe voice), so much so that most users won’t even think of it as a “website”.

    What will the killer Indian social networking site be like, in your opinion?

     

    • Anjali 9:08 pm on March 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I think that Reliance and Nokia will have a tough time breaking into this space, more because the Nokia blog can only be used by Nseries users, if I understood the website correctly. Reliance looks like it is still very basic, plus its glamour has worn off – the Rworld stuff I mean, so moving into blogs/micro-blogging requires a whole dedicated campaign, which I doubt they are ready for yet.

      As far as language is concerned, I feel that computer users who will use Hindi or other local languages are likely to be older and therefore less inclined to blog, given the dynamics of blogging/microblogging in India, where it is mostly young people who engage in it. Younger kids tend to prefer learning English, even in rural areas or the lower middle class in the urban ones, so the potential success of the vernacular social networking sites is questionable. I like your thought process though.

    • Rajesh 10:40 pm on March 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Already happening Gaurav. You of course know of SMS Gupshup – they are going great guns and the potential of private networks is yet to be touched.

      Check out mygamma.com another -very- successful social networking site on the mobile.

      There are a couple of others that I have sampled but are yet to be launched formally an d even as they run in silent mode have already built up significant following through word of mouth.

      Keep writing.

      Cheers.

      Rajesh

    • Navin 6:10 pm on March 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Nice article. Good data and analysis.

      As for the “killer Indian social networking site”, I think it will not be a site at all. I think it will be a sms based network. Your data shows that non-internet enabled mobiles far outnumber everything else. I have another interesting data point. One one of my websites the number of SMS subscribers outnumber the RSS/E-mail subscribers. This is despite the fact that the RSS feed has existed for twice as long as the sms feed. And the fact that the website is not mobile enabled at all.

      The only problem I have with existing mobile social networking sites is that they are really treating mobiles are little computers and hence we end up with services like SMS GupShup which is simply Blogger.com in 140 characters per post. Somebody is going to come up with a radically different way of socializing via SMS – and we’ll all think, in hindsight, that it was such an obvious and simple idea. And that guy will have a killer app on his hands.

      I should explicitly point out that this hasn’t happened yet. I haven’t been able to figure out how to use SMS GupShup or twitter in the context of my current friends circles. So we are stuck to sending group SMSs.

    • Gaurav 5:40 am on March 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      @Anjali: As I said, the killer Indian social networking site will probably not even look like a website, so I’m not talking about vernacular blogs/ microblogs. The real value is in getting the non-computer savvy users to engage with a social network via SMS.

      @Rajesh: Will spend some time at MyGamma . Didn’t have a great first impression though. Also it doesn’t seem to have had much traction yet, in terms of traffic and user base.

      @Navin: Yes, the present business models don’t quite leverage the full potential of mobile. I agree with you that the killer social network will need to offer full functionality on SMS, including, posting, profiles, friending, following, and more.

  • Gaurav Mishra 12:03 pm on March 12, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: BabaJob, , , , , , IDC Web Value Matrix, , , Like, , , , , Outlook Cover Story, , , , , , , Sumitr   

    What’s Wrong With Indian Social Networking Sites? 

    Quick Summary: To build an identity and a broad Indian user base for themselves, Indian social networking sites need to reflect the unique nature of relationships in the Indian society.

    - X – X – X -

    According to a recent cover story in the Outlook Magazine, there are almost 10 mn users of social networking sites in India. Orkut has 7.1 mn users, Facebook 1.6 mn, BharatStudent 1.7mn, Fropper 1.0 mn, BigAdda 1.4 mn, Minglebox 0.6 mn, adding up to 13.4 mn (tweet). Add smaller social networks, factor in duplication across social networks, and the total user base for social networks in India may be ~10 mn (tweet).

    As the number of Internet users in India is estimated at between 20 mn and 30 mn by most sources, at least one third of all Internet users in India now use a social network.

    However, according to the IDC Value Web Matrix study, there are only 1.5 mn users for India focused web 2.0 startups, including social networks (you can find a good list of Indian web 2.0 startups at Prabhu’s blog). As the study includes enterprise-focused web 2.0 startups like Zoho, the number of users for social networking websites in India may be closer to 1 mn. I know that BharatStudent in itself claims to have 1.7 mn users, but that number looks overstated to most people I have spoken to. In any case, we can safely peg the number of users for Indian social networking sites between 1 mn and 2 mn.

    Therefore, out of 10 mn social networking users in India only 1 mn to 2mn (only 10% to 20%) are on Indian social networking sites. Which begs the question: what’s wrong with Indian social networking sites (tweet)?

    Most of the Indian social networking sites are basically India-focused Facebook/ MySpace/ Orkut/ LinkedIn clones (tweet). Such clones would only be popular amongst a small set of twenty-something Indians in metros who won’t want a clone anyways (tweet).

    To really build an identity and a broad Indian user base for themselves, Indian social networking sites need to reflect the unique nature of relationships in the Indian society (tweet).

    To illustrate my point, let me plot the Indian social networking sites on a 2X2 matrix with Indian-vs-global social dynamics on the X-axis and Indian-vs-global user appeal on the Y-axis (tweet) –

    A Typology of Indian Social Networks

    Quadrant 1 (Global social dynamics and global user appeal): These are original concepts and tweaks with broad international appeal, Indian only because they are started by Indians (tweet). Examples include: Slideshare, Like, and my friend Shweta’s Criticat. Please note that most of these startups have a mix of Indian and foreign founders.

    Quadrant 2 (Indian social dynamics and global user appeal): I couldn’t find an example of such a social network, but a yoga-centered social network based on the guru-shishya tradition would probably fall in this quadrant.

    Quadrant 3 (Global social dynamics and Indian user appeal): These are India-focused Facebook/ MySpace/ Orkut/ LinkedIn clones. Most of the well-known Indian social networking sites would fall in this quadrant.

    Quadrant 4 (Indian social dynamics and Indian user appeal): These are original concepts & tweaks with niche Indian appeal. So far, I have been able to find only two examples. BabaJob – a Bangalore-based professional social network for household help – taps into the unique Indian dependence on household help (tweet). Sumitr allows you to create a password-protected, closed-wall private network for family members and close friends.

    Over time, such social networking sites that reflect the unique nature of relationships in the Indian society are more likely to build an unique identity and a broad Indian user base for themselves. Otherwise, most of the Indian users of social networking sites will continue to flock to Facebook/ MySpace/ Orkut/ LinkedIn and not their Indian clones.

    Do you know of any other Indian social networking sites that are built on uniquely Indian needs and sensibilities (tweet)?

    - X – X – X -

    Update: March 12

    Ideasmith raises a very important point regarding Indian matrimonial websites in the comments section –

    I’ve a suggestion for Quadrant 2 – the matrimonial sites. Or don’t you consider them social networks?

    In fact, when I started writing this post, my starting point was that matrimonial websites — like BharatMatrimony, JeevanSaathi and Shaadi — are the Indian equivalent of international dating sites. A lot of my Indian friends who wouldn’t risk being seen on a dating site, use matrimonial sites basically to meet interesting people they can date (and, just maybe, marry). Ideasmith has a valid point. Matrimonial websites are also social networks — you create a profile, you browse or search for other people with similar interests and you connect with them online or offline. Except that I’ll classify matrimonial websites in quadrant 4 (Indian social dynamics and Indian user appeal), which means that my case that Indian social networking sites need to reflect the unique nature of relationships in the Indian society just became stronger.

     

    • Navin 12:43 pm on March 12, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Gaurav,
      Your post seems to assume that there is indeed a need for an Indian/Indian social networking site that has broad appeal. Maybe that is not true. Maybe Indians are not that different from the rest of the world after all and facebook/orkut/linked-in are good enough for us to handle our online social lives.

      The two examples for Indian/Indian that you have listed (babajobs, sumitr) are both very specific (and tiny) niches, and I would say will never get more than a tiny fraction of users.

      I can only see a Indian/Indian site really hitting it big if it manages to draw in the non-web-savvy crowd. They guys with the mobile phones (but no computers). Or even the guys without computers (example)

    • IdeaSmith 12:44 pm on March 12, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I’ve a suggestion for Quadrant 2 – the matrimonial sites. Or don’t you consider them social networks?

    • Gaurav 1:36 pm on March 12, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      @Ideasmith Very valid point. Yes, matrimonial websites are also social networks, except that I’ll classify them in quadrant 4 (Indian social dynamics and Indian user appeal), which means that my case that Indian social networking sites need to reflect the unique nature of relationships in the Indian society just became stronger.

    • Gaurav 2:01 pm on March 12, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      @Navin: Wow! You have raised some great points.

      You’ll find that I often approach the social media/ social networking space form a “business opportunity” perspective. I’m myself saying that most urban twenty-something Internet users will prefer Facebook/ Orkut/ LinkedIn to their Indian clones.

      Maybe BabaJob & Sumitr aren’t great quadrant 4 examples, but matrimonial websites are (see the update).

      I also agree that the big value in the future lies in the mobile web space:

      Mobile web users in India 38 mn. Internet users in India 22 mn. Mobile is going to be the growth engine for the web in India. tweet

    • Rajesh 6:07 pm on March 12, 2008 Permalink | Reply

    • Danesh 9:43 pm on March 12, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I have posted some similar thoughts on ibibo.com here – http://www.daneshzaki.com/post/24301579

    • Nitin Rao 11:22 pm on March 12, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Also a lot of Indians just like to try out something that’s tried and tested by millions of users across the world. Rather than try something new everytime and get confused.

      Nitin
      http://www.my2dimes.com/

    • Gaurav 11:38 am on March 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      @Rajesh: Great insights in your BlogTheTalk 2 panel discussion on social networks in India with Amit Ranjan, Alok Mittal and Prerna Gupta.

      @Danesh: Yes, I agree, great marketing will get people to sign-up for a service, but only a unique content or sevice offering will get people to stay and re-visit on a regular basis.

      @Nitin: That may be true for twenty-something Indians like us living in a metro, because our social dynamics have more or less converged with the West. However, I’m talking about a bigger opportunity — to tap into the older, non-metro, non-English-speaking, non-broadband, maybe non-Internet user — that the present Indian social networking sites are missing out on.

      Indian social networks can differentiate themselves along three different dimensions — social dynamics, language or access — and I haven’t seen much initiative along any of these.

    • Ekalavya 8:47 pm on March 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      U can’t call bigadda and ibibo indian sites with a global appeal

    • Gaurav 10:52 pm on March 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      @Eklavya: In fact, I haven’t called BigAdda and Ibibo “Indian sites with a global appeal”. I have classified them as clones of international social networks, in Quadrant 3 (global social dynamics and Indian user appeal).

    • (Another) Gaurav 12:41 am on March 18, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Gaurav,

      I don’t think I will categorize matrimonial sites as social networks.

      “you create a profile, you browse or search for other people with similar interests and you connect with them online or offline”

      This is true, but one looks for a particular type of user (generally opposite sex), which means the user base is divided into 2 segments.

      Although you can create a free profile with most of the sites (you can’t do much with it though), but the site’s aim is to funnel you into buying the *premium* membership. So, I think the revenue models are different than a regular SN.

      There is no community aspect in matrimonial sites, which is the main focus of a SN. The relationships are based on one-to-one than being a group.

      People visit Matrimony sites and Dating sites for a particular goal – get married or find a date. Once the goal is achieved, the user does not return back. Whereas SN are used for general communication and not to achieve a goal.

      A lot of relatives/friends use matrimonial sites on behalf of the ‘user’, which beats the whole purpose of user interacting with other users.

      Sorry for the long comment. I’ll write another comment on my take on Indian focused SNs.

    • Jesmi 2:17 pm on April 9, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I think that Indian social networks can differentiate themselves along three different dimensions. These are the social dynamics, language and access. But these dimensions are help to the Indian society become stronger.

    • Aakriti 3:44 pm on April 16, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I really dont think that matrimonial sites are anywhere close to networking right now… the purpose is classifieds on the net… and not building a network there…

    • Suresh Mangaladurai 2:58 am on November 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Its a pity that you talk of lack of originality and cloning done by Indian social networking sites but you have yourself not been original in naming your blog and have merely imitated Swaminathan's Swaminomics which was started by the Times of India. Even suggesting that Indian social networking sites must be based on the Indian Guru Sishys parambara as found in your matrix reflects an ignorance of the Guru sishya tradition for a Guru carefully selects his Sishya and does not interact with all and sundry, especially the creepy kind of characters that prowl around in these sites.

    • Suresh mangaladurai 3:01 am on November 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Social networking on the web is a Western concept and in a country where the majority of Indians are illiterate or semi-literate (Govt. statistics be damned) expecting the people to network on the web is pretty dumb. At the most social networking on the net can only be a niche market with only pseudo Indians taking part. Actual networking in India especially in rural India is not virtual and takes place in village squares under the pupil tree and in temples, fairs and other melas. As conscientious Indians who should not lose touch with our roots we should not try the top down approach of thrusting Western mores, values and contemporary life-styles on the Indian people. They are not ready for it and many of them whom I have interacted with consider that imposing our will on them is only adding to their problems as well as pressures and not in anyway alleviating them.

    • kaali1900 6:11 am on January 21, 2009 Permalink | Reply

      I reckon that Social Networking is already splintering from broad to narrow/ special interest groups. Over the next couple of years, you will see a lot more special interest communities gathering momentum. http://biigpiic.com/ is for example a network that is consolidating advertising, events, fashion, movies, music, broadcasting and publishing segments.

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