Way back in 2007 (early days of web2.0), there was a lot of noise about social networking and tons of new sites/product were launched. Two years later, the reality has hit the industry and while early movers still have an advantage, most of the me-too sites have died down/changed track and now, there is lesser competition in the market.
Orkut rules the chart and it’s quite clear that most of homegrown networks won’t be able to give Orkut/Facebook and Twitter a ‘serious’ competition – and not because they are homegrown, but because they do not have conversations. The traffic is dependent on one’s advertising spend and of course, Bollywood partnerships.
As far as Facebook/Twitter/Orkut competition goes, Indian media is promoting Twitter in a big way and most of the social media enthusiasts are embracing Facebook. Even though Orkut doesn’t seem to lose it’s sheen, expect a rough ride in the next 6 months when Facebook and Twitter would be the ‘in’ thing.
Having said all of this, there are niche vertical social networks which nobody is able to touch – for instance, team-bhp.com, indiaparenting.com etc which have niche audience, conversations have a quality, sites have targeted sponsors and companies are making a ‘good’ living out of it (if not loads of $$s)!
What’s your take on Indian social networking space? Has the dust settled? Vertical vs. spread-out horizontal approach – what’s your preference?
Recommended Survey: Twitter in India – People Use it as a News Service [Survey Report]
PS: For Twitter, web is just ‘another’ source of traffic and numbers do not showcase the real interest from India.
Orkut is well ensconced in the lead position and may remain so for sometime to come.
Whats surprising is the flat traffic for sites like ibibo. Btw where do we place sites like Minglebox
how about myspace in india?
Minglebox is not a socialnetwork anymore (they are an educational platform).
MySpace India traffic is too small to even discuss. They did create a strong momentum, but the recent restructuring did dampen the energy.
Social networking sites are the next big thing in India, but the million dollar question is when will the companies actually start earning profits?? The margins will be very low until the traffic to these sites increase.
Three trends !
Social networking is now going the way of the portals, there will be just 2-3 general purpose ones left standing.These ones will make money.
The rest will be niches. Social networking itself is becoming a utility / tool like email. The large number of social networking sites will be mainly small sized communities, often non-profits like alumni or local locality.
Indian social networking sites do not offer a compelling differentiation, our Internet audience is English-speaking and well-attuned to US culture and sites. Asian countries like China, Japan & Korea have their own local leading social networking sites, however, for these very reasons.
I agree.
Would be interested to how is bigadda.com doing!
What about linkedin, that surely should be high on the list here?
Orkut is on the top because many Indians know how to use it, they feel comfortable..Facebook and Myspace has not yet gained much popularity here as in other countries
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