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Context is everything.
Detailed stories on technology startups, business and economic current affairs.
Detailed stories on technology startups, business and economic current affairs.
Editor's note: This week, social network Instagram rolled out Reels—a feature that allows its users to record and edit 15-second video clips—in the Indian market. A global experiment that Facebook has been conducting since late last year in a handful of countries, Reels has been designed to counter Bytedance-owned TikTok. Much like the latter, Reels allows its users to record videos with creative tools, audio, music from its recently created library, and some special effects. Launched within days of the Indian government’s ban on 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, the timing of this rollout is hardly a coincidence. (Facebook, of course, says that testing Reels in India was a natural progression.) First of all, the launch of Reels is pretty bad news for all the Indian social media apps that have been gaining traction over the past week and trying to fill the TikTok void. We wrote about the noise around creating an India-first social network in the previous edition of Things Change; now, it seems that Instagram is well-placed to take the cake. It has the technology, money and the manpower …
Editor's note: This week, social network Instagram rolled out Reels—a feature that allows its users to record and edit 15-second video clips—in the Indian market. A global experiment that Facebook has been conducting since late last year in a handful of countries, Reels has been designed to counter Bytedance-owned TikTok. Much like the latter, Reels allows its users to record videos with creative tools, audio, music from its recently created library, and some special effects. Launched within days of the Indian government’s ban on 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, the timing of this rollout is hardly a coincidence. (Facebook, of course, says that testing Reels in India was a natural progression.) First of all, the launch of Reels is pretty bad news for all the Indian social media apps that have been gaining traction over the past week and trying to fill the TikTok void. We wrote about the noise around creating an India-first social network in the previous edition of Things Change; now, it seems that Instagram is well-placed to take the cake. It has the technology, money and the manpower …
The homegrown social startup is betting big on India’s latest content obsession—minute-long episodes of high-stakes dramas. Cut through the noise and the microdrama hype itself doesn’t add up.
Countries across the world are coming to the consensus that children aged under 15 must not have access to social media. India, which has over 300 million children under 15 and among the cheapest data tariffs, needs to have this conversation sooner rather than later.
The Zoho co-founder’s attempt to build a WhatsApp competitor has captured the imagination of the nationalist Indian. Emotions aside, the most likely outcome is that Zoho’s other products will start selling more.
The homegrown social startup is betting big on India’s latest content obsession—minute-long episodes of high-stakes dramas. Cut through the noise and the microdrama hype itself doesn’t add up.
Countries across the world are coming to the consensus that children aged under 15 must not have access to social media. India, which has over 300 million children under 15 and among the cheapest data tariffs, needs to have this conversation sooner rather than later.
The Zoho co-founder’s attempt to build a WhatsApp competitor has captured the imagination of the nationalist Indian. Emotions aside, the most likely outcome is that Zoho’s other products will start selling more.
