Short Videos Set Internet on Fire
New-age platforms such as Tiktok and Likee have changed the social media landscape with their unique content
Gone are the days when people were only sitting and consuming content on big screens, and only few were known to be entertainer. Thanks to short video platforms such as Likee, Tiktok and BIGO LIVE, you can now create your own short music videos in 15-60 seconds or more and share them on these social networks. These apps have indeed changed the social media landscape and set the internet on fire by giving a chance to the people, mostly youngsters, to come and showcase their talent, no matter by creating small videos or doing live streams. They enable you to be a creator and inspire users to share their passion and creative expression through their videos.
The trend is catching up in such a way that millennials are now moving away from traditional platforms such as Facebook and lapping up these new age social platforms for more engagement and reach. The latest Sensor Tower findings reporting Likee and Tiktok among top four downloaded apps (Apr-june 2019 quarter) further confirms their popularity among young talents. These platforms are even asking their brand ambassadors to drive the campaign and bring in desired participation from the users. Right from Tier 1 to Tier 2 cities, they are driving the change via sharing individualist content and making it more local for consumption.
User creating content as per their own talent and expressing their thoughts
can be viewed in form of short videos on Likee wherein even participation from major influencers like Anushka
Sen, a popular TV actress, are getting involvement and trending. Few trends include influencers visiting foreign countries and creating interesting content with locals while forwarding their friendship thoughts. Similarly, some of Tiktok’s popular creators such as Geet and Awal are using the platform to share information with users and educate them. Users such as Pooja Sharma and Urmi Pandya share videos on how-to tips for Yoga, encouraging users join this thriving culture. The 15 second format makes the videos easy to consume.
“We believe every individual has some hidden talents and is an entertainer in real life, we are just providing them a platform to showcase it to the world. We focus on video broadcast and VOIP related products and services all over the world. We are creating opportunities for content creators to become famous and rich by providing healthy, clean and entertaining content for users. Also for users, we serve as an entertainment platform to consume healthy content and also interact with their favourite entertainers which is a win win situation for both creators as well as consumers,” says Nagesh Banga, Deputy Country Head, BIGO LIVE.
The reason for their popularity can be seen with the ease of creation of videos with some added effects allowing them to create interesting content anywhere without having to go through a process of creation and development as compared to traditional format. Akanksha T, having a fan base of 176k on Likee, says, “I was always an introvert and was not
confident to perform in front of camera or audience. I always wanted to showcase my talent and Likee gave me that platform. It has not only given me the confidence to dance but has also made me an influencer which got me so many opportunities.”
Ajay Wadhwa, who enjoys a fan base of 1 million, has another interesting story to share. “Having worked in corporate for a long time and being a Youtuber myself, I always wanted to explore new fields of entertainment, and live-streaming being the new fad, intrigued me. BIGO LIVE for me is a platform which gives complete freedom to perform my passion and in return I get paid for it. In January this year, I got an opportunity to visit BIGO headquarter to be a part of a global award ceremony where I had also performed.”
Paralympic winner Sangeeta Vishnoi from Jodhpur, who is differently-abled with right hand and left leg missing and has represented India in London Paralympic 2003, says “I am using live streaming app BIGO LIVE to support the young aspirants and differently-abled talents who weren’t able to get much needed guidance to enter the field of sports in India.”
Latest campaigns and hashtags to have gone viral on short video platforms in the recent past include #Friendshipday2019 on Likee wherein users were seen posting interesting videos showing them tying friendship bands to their friends and #friendsforeeveron Tiktok where multitude of people were seen creating short videos on Friendship Day. While such tags are trending on social media, users are participating in a large number to further contribute their thoughts in the most amazing way they can.
Some of the most trending hashtags in India include #Merimaa with almost 880 million views, which had creators express their love for their mothers on International Mothers’ Day, #desifood challenge which is one of the most popular hashtags among Indians, a whopping 4 billion views, who love to share their favourite foods, recipes and places to eat and the #Cricketworldcup which was curated in association with ICC and garnered over 600 million views.
Sachin Sharma, Director Sales and Partnership, Tiktok India, says, “We recently also launched the India edition of our global in-app travel campaign, #Tiktoktravel. The local in-app campaign #Yehmeraindia showcased India as a key global travel destination and invited Tiktok users to share their travel moments with the world. Another great example is the #Edutok campaign which is a part of Tiktok’s commitment to propel India’s creative economy, urges Tiktok users to create meaningful and inspiring content around various themes including education, motivational, safety, health and wellness. The campaign has garnered over 1.9 billion views on the platform.”
So what are the key elements for the success of these new-age media platforms? Increasing smartphone penetration, coupled with low cost data, are apparently the prime reasons for more and more Indians plumping for a digitally enabled and enhanced lifestyle. “Since its launch in the early first half of 2017, Tiktok has received an overwhelming response in India. The numbers of users have grown rapidly and Tiktok was even crowned as one of India’s most entertaining app according to Google
Play Awards 2018 which is a testament to Tiktok’s success and popularity in India,” says Sharma. Similarly, in a short span of two years, Likee has ushered in a never-seen before social media revolution in India. It was also awarded the Most Innovative Startup Mobile App at the IAMAI 9th India Digital Awards 2019.
What about the censorship as content on these platforms are mostly user-generated and were in controversy recently? Tiktok has put in place protective measures by combining content moderation technology with a robust human moderation team. This team, which is based in over 20 countries and regions, now covers 36 languages and is constantly growing, an increase of 400% from one year ago. In India, the moderation team covers major Indian languages, including Hindi, Tamil,
Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati and more. The moderation team based on the expansive community guidelines ensures the digital wellbeing of our users.
BIGO and Likee too have their moderation teams. “BIGO has one of the best AI technology (HAIDU) and robust moderation policies and procedure. We make sure to abide by the laws of the land to ensure we continue offering quality content. We have a moderation team of over 550 members in India. This moderation team with the help of AI work 24x7 to moderate content in 19 different languages. We also have developed a list of over 50,000 bad words, which keeps on updated as and when required, just to make sure even if someone tries to write some comment that word gets blocked by itself,” concludes Banga. ■
ramesh@mymobile.co.in