Social Networks on the Rise in India

The year 2007 has seen the launch of several new social networking Web sites targeting the youth in this country.

Two such newbies: iShare, launched by Rediff in July, and the very recent BigAdda, launched by Reliance ADAG.

Both portals qualify as social content sharing platforms, allowing users share videos, music, pictures, and more. They combine elements of various sites including Orkut, Youtube, Flickr, and Limewire, to name a few.

Yet, they aspire to be more than just platforms for people to catch up with pals or find dates online. An increasing number of people are actually looking towards these sites as more than just meeting ground.

One such aspect, video sharing, is gaining currency the world over. For instance, aspiring music artists get to showcase their work by uploading their videos. Others in turn, get to know of the existence of diverse and varied talent.

Portraying their Web site as one such multi-faceted destination, Manish Agarwal, vice president of marketing, Rediff, said, "Rediff iShare, unlike most of the social networking sites, does not depend on "boy meet girl" or "missing friend"; rather, it connects users sharing the same passion. After finding the content they like, users can connect with users who've uploaded that content or viewed that content to share some kind of connect."

Rediff iShare claims it has managed to hook nearly 1 million users in just a month and a half. BigAdda meanwhile, is looking at hooking close to 10 million users by 2010.

Both iShare and BigAdda claim to exist for an Indian audience. However, that does not take away from the competition they face from international players like Google and Yahoo!.

What Nikhil Soman, chief technology officer of Bigadda, had to say about this is: "As an Indian Youth Network with Indian sensibilities, allowing identity creation, self expression, and community building through text, photo, video, and other multi-media platforms and devices, we focus on the available Indian population, which itself is a global market."

Meanwhile, Google's YouTube, which is undoubtedly the most widely used video sharing Web site in the world, allows users not just to upload and share videos but also to download them onto their PCs. This feature is lacking in our home-grown social networking sites, for oft cited copyright reasons.

All said, online social networking is becoming increasingly popular across the globe and across India, and is increasingly driving time spent on the Internet.

Rediff's Manish Agarwal believes that the entry of new players in the market will only help further accelerate growth of Internet in India.

Reportedly, the Internet user base in the country is poised to grow to 100 million from a current base of 40 million, and the percentage of users adopting social networks is also expected to rise from the current 13 percent to nearly 25 percent.