Comments on: Three Dimensions of Differentiation for Indian Social Networking Sites http://www.gauravonomics.com/blog/three-dimensions-of-differentiation-for-indian-social-networking-sites/ Gaurav Mishra's Weblog on Marketing, Technology & Social Media Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:50:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: Rajesh Jain: How to Monetize Digital Media in India | Gauravonomics Blog http://www.gauravonomics.com/blog/three-dimensions-of-differentiation-for-indian-social-networking-sites/#comment-7266 Rajesh Jain: How to Monetize Digital Media in India | Gauravonomics Blog Sun, 03 Aug 2008 05:54:49 +0000 http://www.gauravonomics.com/blog/three-dimensions-of-differentiation-for-indian-social-networking-sites/#comment-7266 [...] have earlier written about how mobile will be the key to unlock India’s digital potential and the research I’ll be doing as the Yahoo! Fellow at Georgetown University will be based on [...]

[…] have earlier written about how mobile will be the key to unlock India’s digital potential and the research I’ll be doing as the Yahoo! Fellow at Georgetown University will be based on […]

]]> By: The World is Not Flat and Neither is the Social Web | Gauravonomics Blog http://www.gauravonomics.com/blog/three-dimensions-of-differentiation-for-indian-social-networking-sites/#comment-6875 The World is Not Flat and Neither is the Social Web | Gauravonomics Blog Sat, 10 May 2008 13:11:12 +0000 http://www.gauravonomics.com/blog/three-dimensions-of-differentiation-for-indian-social-networking-sites/#comment-6875 [...] world) is not entirely flat, because it allows entrepreneurs to exploit opportunities to create a uniquely Indian social network or build a social media outsourcing [...]

[…] world) is not entirely flat, because it allows entrepreneurs to exploit opportunities to create a uniquely Indian social network or build a social media outsourcing […]

]]> By: Check It Out: I Love Alootechie’s New Magazine-Style Look and Not-Only-News Focus | Gauravonomics Blog http://www.gauravonomics.com/blog/three-dimensions-of-differentiation-for-indian-social-networking-sites/#comment-6474 Check It Out: I Love Alootechie’s New Magazine-Style Look and Not-Only-News Focus | Gauravonomics Blog Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:11:56 +0000 http://www.gauravonomics.com/blog/three-dimensions-of-differentiation-for-indian-social-networking-sites/#comment-6474 [...] In future, Mobile VAS will drive not only mobile usage, but also web 2.0 usage. In fact, mobile will be one of the three dimensions of differentiation for Indian web 2.0 startups, including.... [...]

[…] In future, Mobile VAS will drive not only mobile usage, but also web 2.0 usage. In fact, mobile will be one of the three dimensions of differentiation for Indian web 2.0 startups, including…. […]

]]> By: Gaurav http://www.gauravonomics.com/blog/three-dimensions-of-differentiation-for-indian-social-networking-sites/#comment-6419 Gaurav Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:10:26 +0000 http://www.gauravonomics.com/blog/three-dimensions-of-differentiation-for-indian-social-networking-sites/#comment-6419 @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 <a href="http://mygamma.com/" rel="nofollow">MyGamma</a> . 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. @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.

]]> By: Navin http://www.gauravonomics.com/blog/three-dimensions-of-differentiation-for-indian-social-networking-sites/#comment-6382 Navin Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:40:53 +0000 http://www.gauravonomics.com/blog/three-dimensions-of-differentiation-for-indian-social-networking-sites/#comment-6382 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 <a href="http://withoutgivingthemovieaway.com" rel="nofollow">my websites</a> the number of <a href="http://www.smsgupshup.com/groups/WOGMA" rel="nofollow">SMS subscribers</a> 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. 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.

]]> By: Rajesh http://www.gauravonomics.com/blog/three-dimensions-of-differentiation-for-indian-social-networking-sites/#comment-6365 Rajesh Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:10:23 +0000 http://www.gauravonomics.com/blog/three-dimensions-of-differentiation-for-indian-social-networking-sites/#comment-6365 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 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

]]> By: Anjali http://www.gauravonomics.com/blog/three-dimensions-of-differentiation-for-indian-social-networking-sites/#comment-6359 Anjali Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:38:12 +0000 http://www.gauravonomics.com/blog/three-dimensions-of-differentiation-for-indian-social-networking-sites/#comment-6359 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. 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.

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