ITV

Category: Social Media

  • POPxo bullish on growing business via regional content in India

    POPxo bullish on growing business via regional content in India

    MUMBAI: POPxo, the digital community for women launches in Marathi, Bangla, Tamil, and Telugu. Each language vertical will have a dedicated team of writers and editors creating female-focused original content (text, video and social). The move is part of POPxo’s strategy to expand their user-base by addressing new audience groups to further strengthen reach and engagement.

    POPxo founder and CEO Priyanka Gill, “The next wave of users who come online will be accessing the internet in their native language. There is a massive supply-demand gap for female-focused regional language content. The launch of the POPxo platform in four more languages will address this exciting opportunity and power the next stage of growth for the company.”

    It (English and Hindi) has over 39 million MAUs (monthly active users) across all platforms. Every month, the team creates 1500 stories, 80 videos resulting in users spending over 3 million hours consuming POPxo content.

    POPxo head of content Ruchira Bose said, “Expanding our language portfolio is key in maintaining a strong growth trajectory for POPxo. Our current data-driven content model is scalable. We will use our learnings in English and Hindi to create and distribute relatable content to our new user groups,”

    The company has raised a total of $12m in funding to date. The last investment round was led by Neoplux and OPPO, with participation from existing investors Kalaari Capital, Chiratae Ventures, Summit Media, and GREE Ventures. POPxo launched private label commerce in July 2018.

  • Share with Your Close Friends on Instagram Stories

    Share with Your Close Friends on Instagram Stories

    MUMBAI: Starting today, you can make a close friends list on Stories and share with just the people you've added. Instagram Stories has become the place to express yourself and share everyday moments, but our community has grown — sometimes what you want to share isn't for everyone. With Close Friends, you have the flexibility to share more personal moments with a smaller group that you choose. 

    To add people to your list, go to your profile and tap on “Close Friends” in the side menu. Only you can see your close friends list and no one can request to be added, so you can feel comfortable adjusting it at any time. When you share to Stories, you'll see the option to share with just the people on your close friends list. If someone has added you to their list, you will see a green badge when you're viewing their stories. You'll also see a green ring around their profile photo in the Stories tray. 

    Close Friends will be rolling out globally today on the latest version of Instagram for iOS and Android. To learn more, check out the Instagram Help Center.

  • Over three million people tune in for Facebook and Priyanka Chopra’s #SocialForGood Live-athon

    Over three million people tune in for Facebook and Priyanka Chopra’s #SocialForGood Live-athon

    Mumbai: Facebook is a place where people come together to connect with their communities and support each another in meaningful ways. Today, Facebook India and Priyanka Chopra's #SocialForGood Live-Athon gave people another way to support causes they care about. The Facebook Live-Athon shone a light on the remarkable work being done online and how these communities came together to collaborate to raise awareness towards different causes from Mental Health Awareness to Women Entrepreneurship.

    By the end of four hours , #SocialForGood Live-Athon had garnered over three million views and over 15,244 donations (which is more than a donation per second!) from over 57 cities across the globe.

    Speaking about the Live-Athon, Priyanka Chopra said, “It was an amazing day and I am overwhelmed by the support we have received not just from our panelists and performers but also from all those who tuned in to the Live-Athon.  The conversations were insightful and impactful and what made the day a success was the number of donations received for each of these important causes.  It showed that we care and that we can use #SocialForGood.  Thank you to the team at Facebook and all the change makers who gave their time to us today and who made this initiative possible.  `It is only apt that on #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving fuelled by the power of social media and community, our initiative was able to harness the power of individuals to work towards a better tomorrow for us all.  Let's pledge to do our bit and work relentlessly towards building a stronger, safer and a more supportive world. she added."

    #SocialForGood Live-Athon has partnered with four organizations who work towards causes like mental well-being and women entrepreneurship in rural cities. Donations will be live until next Tuesday, December 4th. To know more and donate, please visit https://sfg.ketto.org/

  • Facebook to train 5 mn Indians by 2021 in digital skills

    Facebook to train 5 mn Indians by 2021 in digital skills

    MUMBAI: Facebook in India is planning to train five million people with digital skills in three years, to help small businesses reach the global economy, according to ET telecom.

    The social media giant has already trained one million people across 150 cities and 48,000 villages with support from 50 partners. These numbers were disclosed at the inaugural day of the two-day Facebook community boost programme aimed at helping small businesses gain digital marketing skills.

    Facebook public policy director India, South and Central Asia Ankhi Das said, "We have a very strong framework of partnership with local partners and state governments. We are very excited that our programmes such as BoostYourBusiness, SheMeansBusiness, that are run in partnership with State and Central Government, civil society and private institutions, focus on facilitating economic transformation and mainstreaming of small businesses at the grassroots level into the formal economy. The company also works closely with the Ministry of Skill Development And Entrepreneurship on digital training."

    The Facebook training programmes entail simple lessons that help to build a digital presence, avoiding expensive fees for creating and hosting websites, tap into the growing mobile economy, gain market access by learning to market their products to more than two billion people globally who use Facebook, increase awareness about their products and services.

    According to Das, the training programmes for India will also help people learn how to utilise Facebook-owned photo-sharing platform Instagram.

    The training modules for these businesses in digital marketing and online safety developed by Facebook are available in 14 local languages.

    Facebook said its programmes reached 29 states in India, including Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Odisha and Rajasthan among others.

    "More than 80 per cent of SMBs (small and midsize businesses) on Facebook say they have increased sales because of the platform and access to global and local market," Das said, citing the findings of a recent survey.

    The results showed that over 70 per cent of SMBs on the social networking platform built their business on Facebook.

    On concerns of businesses generating fake like or page views, Das said that Facebook is aggressively fighting spread of misinformation on the platform by taking down fake accounts.

    In the last two quarters, Facebook has removed more than 1.5 billion fake accounts, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a note last week.

  • YouTube carrying out trials for more pre-video ads

    YouTube carrying out trials for more pre-video ads

    MUMBAI: Video streaming service site YouTube has been carrying out trials to add more ads into videos.

    In Google’s new blog post, it explained that interrupting viewers less often with ads correlates to better user metrics. And that is why; it has been carrying out tests which will show viewers two skippable ads back-to-back at the beginning of a video.

    Google wrote, “Because when users see two ads in a break, they’re less likely to be interrupted by ads later. In fact, those users will experience up to 40 percent fewer interruptions by ads in the session. Early experiment results also show an 8-11 percent increase in unique reach and a 5-10 percent increase in frequency for advertisers, with no impact to brand lift metrics.”

    This new change will first come to YouTube’s desktop experience. Mobile and TV screens will be followed with the new feature in the coming days.

    The update on YouTube will look something like this with a message explaining that you can watch two ads now for fewer interruptions later.

    Concluding the blog post, it wrote, “In the face of these burgeoning user trends — as well as the next wave, and the next — we’ll continue working to build the ideal video viewing experience, and keep thinking up ways to deliver value for our advertiser partners.”

  • Abhijit Bose appointed Whatsapp India ops head

    Abhijit Bose appointed Whatsapp India ops head

    MUMBAI: Facebook owned mobile messenger application WhatsApp has appointed Abhijit Bose as head of India operations, the company confirmed in a statement.

    Bose will join WhatsApp in early 2019. He will be building WhatsApp’s first full country team outside of California and will be based in Gurgaon.

    Before this, he was the co-founder and CEO of electronic payments company Ezetap. Bose is also a graduate from Harvard Business School and Cornell University.

    The release stated, “Bose and his team will focus on helping businesses, both large and small connect with their customers.”

    Whatsapp COO Matt Idema said, “WhatsApp is deeply committed to India and we are excited to keep building products that help people connect and support India's fast-growing digital economy. As a successful entrepreneur himself, Abhijit knows what it takes to build meaningful partnerships that can serve businesses across India”.

    To his appointment, Bose said, “WhatsApp is special and can be a major partner for financial inclusion and economic growth in India”.

  • Instagram releases India’s top food hashtags

    Instagram releases India’s top food hashtags

    MUMBAI: Instagram has changed the way people look at food. Whether it’s to take a picture of your meal before eating it, video of a recipe, a restaurant review or a behind the scenes video from a cookery show –Indians are using Instagram in varied ways to express what food means to them.

    Recognizing this close relationship, Instagram today released a list of India’s top food hashtags at a curated “Food at Instagram” masterclass with some of the country’s most prominent food creators including Chef Kunal Kapur, Celebrity Chef and Restaurateur, Pooja Dhingra, Executive Chef at Le 15 Patisserie, Deeba Rajpal, Food Blogger and Stylist at Passionate about Baking, Archana Doshi, CEO & Founder of Archana’s Kitchen and Shilpa Mitha, Food Miniaturist and creator of @suenosouvenir.

    As a part of the session, each of these business owners and creators shared best practices to harness the power of visual storytelling through Instagram and build a loyal audience. Pooja Dhingra highlighted the use of ‘Stories’ to showcase recipes through her Sunday Baking Club, while Chef Kunal Kapur and Archana Doshi discussed how the use of video over still images helped in connecting with and creating a steady fan base for their recipes.

    Chef Kunal Kapur said, “Instagram has truly changed the way we perceive food in the world today. I remember scouring through hundreds of cookbooks just to create that perfect dish and now, all it takes to fashion a meal is to view one short video on Instagram or just follow a foodie's stories. Whether you are looking to inspire others or find some inspiration for yourself – the Instagram community has created a virtual family for food lovers to connect, share and motivate.”

    During the session, Saket Jha Saurabh, Head of Entertainment Partnerships, Facebook, India said, “One billion people around the world come to Instagram every month because they can connect with friends and interests in one place. Food is a great example of the diverse and creative content that is shared on Instagram and this presents a huge opportunity for creators to grow their community and achieve their business objectives. From chefs to foodies, our tools and innovations are built to bring personal, authentic content to a larger audience and we hope today's session will inspire more creators from all over India and showcase the best of Indian content globally.”

  • Bollywood star Ayushmann talks about his struggle with social media in the early stage of his career on #MeriRealLife

    Bollywood star Ayushmann talks about his struggle with social media in the early stage of his career on #MeriRealLife

    Mumbai, 14th, November 2018: Anupama Chopra is back with another interview on #MeriRealLife – this time with Vicky Donor’s famous and critically acclaimed actor Ayushamann Khurrana on her YouTube Channel Film Companion.

    In the episode, going live today, Anupama chats with the youth sensation, Ayushmann, who shares about his journey to Bollywood and how his life changed after the movie ‘Vicky Donor’. He also talks about how curated the images on his Instagram account are and the tough time he has undergone, facing criticism from people on social media. Watch the full episode on

    Talking about how he faced criticism on social media, the actor said on #MeriRealShow, “Success is a very lousy teacher. Your failures and rejections, they are your friends, philosophers and guides in life.”

    #MeriRealLife interview series by Anupama Chopra is based on Idea 4G #MeriRealLife campaign which urges people to use social media responsibly and highlights the growing phenomenon of people living ‘dual-lives’ due to over use of the medium. The interview series features eminent Bollywood celebrities who talk about their association with social media and how they are battling the pressure of showing only their perfect side on social media. The show intends to bring out #MeriRealLife of Bollywood stars who are idolised by the masses and leaves them with the message of keeping it real on social media.

    #MeriRealLife interview series has already featured talented actors like Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal and Sonam Kapoor in the past few weeks. These episodes are available on Film Companion’s YouTube channel and also on Idea Movies & TV and Vodafone Play apps.

    Idea 4G #MeriRealLife campaign has garnered approx. 30 million video views across social media platforms and driven 16K conversations amongst users sharing their stories on #MeriRealLife.

  • Twitter appoints Rahul Pushkarna as head of content partnership, APAC

    Twitter appoints Rahul Pushkarna as head of content partnership, APAC

    MUMBAI: Rahul Pushkarna has been appointed as head of content partnership, APAC at Twitter. He confirmed his appointment through Twitter.

    Before this, Pushkarna worked with Sony Pictures Entertainment as director, sales development, Asia. Pushkarna was also the head, digital distribution and licensing, India and Southeast Asia at 21st Century Fox before Sony.

    Previously, he has also worked with Microsoft, NBC Universal Media and HSBC.

  • Tinder Launches More Genders for Users in India

    Tinder Launches More Genders for Users in India

    MUMBAI: Tinder, the world’s most popular app for meeting new people, today announced its latest update: Tinder will now support more ways to express gender identity, by giving users the ability to add information about their gender outside the binary. Users now have the opportunity on the platform to identify as any gender that they believe represents them most authentically.

    Until now, Tinder users in India were offered only two options when selecting their gender: man or woman. For users who identified as transgender, gender neutral or somewhere between or outside the gender binary, that limitation posed an obvious challenge. Tinder now empowers users to just be themselves by adding 23 new genders to the list. From the ‘Edit Info’ screen, users can now type any word that describes their gender identity.  Tinder users may also choose to display their gender on their profile.

    Tinder instituted an advisory panel comprising The Humsafar Trust, India’s oldest LGBTQ organization working for the health and human rights of the community since 1994

    and LGBTQ Author and inclusion advocate, Parmesh Shahani who helped guide local development of the update, help be more inclusive with indigenous gender identities and to reflect cultural nuances of the community in India.  

    Ashok Row Kavi, Chairperson, The Humsafar Trust, said, “Tinder’s new initiative celebrates the diversity and pluralism and truly represents the idea of India. For numerous Indians who identify as trans and non-binary, this will be their chance to be their true selves online and in person. It gives us great pleasure to be associated with Tinder on this bold move.”

    “I am proud to be a part of this. While this is an important effort by itself I believe that the ripple effects will be tremendous,” said Parmesh Shahani. He adds, “I hope it enables Tinder users to express their authentic selves or to express themselves more freely, but beyond that the hope is that this act will empower other institutions, whether government or private to widen the framework with which they approach gender and offer their employees as well as customers a range of gender possibilities.”

    Taru Kapoor, GM, Tinder India said, “Inclusivity, acceptance and individuality are core values of Tinder. Users are best to assert their own identity, and our latest update gives them the opportunity to decide how to express themselves authentically. I think it is vital to be reflective of our time, and it has been a good year in India for gender, sexuality and personal autonomy. What has been crucial is the assistance provided by The Humsafar Trust and Parmesh in customising the update for our community and including indigenous identities. Ensuring users feel like their true selves while using the platform is paramount. Everyone is welcome on Tinder.”