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Category: Social Media

  • BBC Learning English – Thai now live on website, FB, YouTube & Instagram channels

    MUMBAI: BBC Learning English has launched special content for Thai-speaking learners. BBC Learning English – Thai is now live on the BBC Learning English website as well as Facebook and Instagram channels. BBC Thai features selected material on its Facebook page and other social-media channels.

    BBC World Service delivers news content around the world in English and 28 other language services, on radio, TV and digital, reaching a weekly audience of 269 million. BBC Learning English, a part of the BBC World Service, is a leader in using international broadcasting to teach English. Users connect with BBC Learning English via the website bbclearningenglish.com, its partner sites, as well as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

    BBC Learning English – Thai includes weekly video and audio clips for learners at beginner and intermediate levels. Beginners can try Essential English Conversation, while English on the Street and English in the News – featuring the most popular stories from the BBC Thai website – are aimed at those at intermediate level.

    BBC Learning English – Thai is delivered via the BBC Learning English website and social-media channels. Selected content features on BBC Thai Facebook page, Instagram and YouTube channels.

    BBC Learning English editor Paul Scott says: “We are looking forward to engaging and interacting with Thai-speaking learners of English. Our new free series will help them on their language-learning journeys as the starting point for conversations and for sharing views, ideas and culture.”

  • Twitter handle @StarFootball crosses one million followers

    MUMBAI: Home to a number of leading domestic and International sports, the Star Sports network with eleven channels broadcasts premier sporting events has a leading voice for football on social media, @StarFootball – the official Star Sports Football Twitter handle – has surpassed the following of football teams by garnering more than 1 million followers.This growth is fuelled by fascinating content, engaging updates which includes the latest news and happenings from the world of football. In just one year, the page has witnessed a massive 930 per cent organic growth, becoming a popular social destination for the football community.

    Real-time updates and appealing campaigns related to leagues such as Premier League and Bundesliga helps fans engage with the handle and enjoy football during the games and even off-season. @StarFootball has 9 lakh more followers since April 2016. The @StarFootball community is now bigger in number than most of the football leagues and clubs in the world. The handle has more followers than most current Premier League teams, apart from the ‘Big Four’ and Man City; more followers than most current La Liga teams,apart from Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid; and most current Bundesliga teams, except Bayern Munich and Dortmund.

    Enthused about reaching this milestone, a Star India Spokesperson said, “Star Sports is committed to bringing fans closer to football, and this is true across our social media platforms as well.Star Sports engages with the growing base of football fans through its official twitter handle,@StarFootball. It is exciting to see the page reach more than 1 million followers.Over time,it has emerged as a community that engages not just with fans but also national and international players. We will continue to drive interesting conversations with more immersive and compelling content.”

    Footballers from the Indian Super League, Premier League, and Bundesliga have been seen engaging on @StarFootball. Among these are popular names such as Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Riyad Mahrez, Arata Izumi, John Arne Riise and Nico Velez. The handle is followed by world-renowned opinion makers such as Jordan Henderson, Matthew Hayden, Joe Morrison, Mikael Silvestre and clubs like LFC India, Chelsea India etc.

    The Star Sports Football Twitter page brings the latest in Football to the fans and helps them remain informed about their favourite clubs and players. The handlehas emerged as a digital destination for fans to catch match build-ups, view posters of their favourite, entertaining memes and some finest moments in football, among others.

  • PM Modi third ‘most followed’ leader on Twitter: Burson-Marsteller Study

    MUMBAI: The Indian prime minister Narendra Modi is the third-most followed world leader with 30 million followers on his personal account and 18 million followers on his institutional account, @PMOIndia, which is in fourth place on Twitter, according to Burson-Marsteller’s Twiplomacy study.

    Pope Francis is the most followed world leader on Twitter with a combined total of 33 million followers on his nine language accounts, ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump with 30 million.

    Twiplomacy is Burson-Marsteller’s leading global study of how world leaders, governments and international organizations use social media. Data was captured in May 2017, using proprietary Burson tools, CrowdTangle.com and Twitonomy.com.

    India’s foreign minister, @SushmaSwaraj, is the most followed female world leader with eight million followers and @IndianDiplomacy is third among foreign ministries with 1.2 million followers on Twitter.

    Twitter is the prime social network used by 276 heads of state and government, and foreign ministers, in 178 countries, representing 92 percent of all United Nations (UN) member states. Facebook is the second-most used social platform by world leaders, with 169 governments having established official pages. However, world leaders have, on average, twice as many followers on their Facebook pages as followers on Twitter. Data for Twiplomacy, which updated the studies about Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Periscope, was captured in May 2017 using Burson-Marsteller’s proprietary Burson tools, CrowdTangle.com and Twitonomy.com.

    Are World Leaders Conversational on Twitter? While President Trump’s tweets have generated 166 million interactions (likes and retweets) over the past 12 months –PM Modi is in second place with 35 million interactions. For instance, in 2015, Modi sent a Direct Message to his then 12.5 million followers celebrating one year in government. Today selected accounts can still send him direct messages and are greeted by this welcome message.

    Visual Communications on Twitter: A number of world leaders have use animated gifs to lighten up their tweets in a fun and playful way. For example, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi created a gif to promote his mobile app.

    The 2017 edition of Twiplomacy also examines the use of other social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Periscope, and the Twiplomacy.com website includes rankings as well as a social media atlas for each country studied. The study found, for example, the number of governments using Periscope has doubled over the past year, offering a cost-effective way to broadcast press conferences live.

    “Politics and diplomacy are playing out on social media in a way we have never seen before,” said Don Baer, Worldwide Chair and CEO, Burson-Marsteller. “With the U.S. president bypassing traditional government channels to communicate directly to his supporters and detractors alike, we can expect more people in positions of power to adopt this practice. Our Twiplomacy study shows how fast-paced and dynamic our communications landscape truly is.”

    The 2017 Twiplomacy study analyzed 856 Twitter accounts of heads of state and government, and foreign ministers, in 178 countries with a combined total audience of 356 million followers. Foreign ministries tend to use Twitter to establish mutual relations. The most followed non-government account is the United Nations Twitter account, @UN, which is followed by 338 of the 856 world leaders’ Twitter accounts; @BarackObama and the @ObamaWhiteHouse are followed by 312 and 254 world leaders, respectively. @UNICEF is the second-most followed international organization and The New York Times (@NYTimes) is the most followed news organization. The @Twiplomacy Twitter account is the eighth-most followed non-governmental account by world leaders, with a following of 184 heads of state and government, ahead of @Reuters and @TheEconomist.

  • FB Express WiFi to deploy 20k hotspots through Airtel, more tie-ups in pipeline

    MUMBAI: Times are a changing. The cable guy no longer carries optical fibre for satellite TV to the consumer’s house. Entrepreneurs will now establish WiFi hotspots through Facebook to provide internet in public places. Google has already rolled out free Net access through public Wi-Fi at 100 railway stations, in partnership with government’s RailTel. 

    India has a population of around about 1.3 billion people, but according to TRAI report, only 390 million are connected to the internet.

    Facebook’s Express WiFi is a sequel to the Free Basics platform, which has partnered with entrepreneurs to help them establish public WiFi hotspots. Facebook has partnered with Airtel to deploy 20,000 internet hotspots through the Wi-Fi service in a few months. However, unlike Free Basics, Express Wi-Fi works on a ‘paid’ model. 

    FB head of connectivity solutions – Asia Pacific Munish Seth said that it was working with ISP and operator partners to test Express WiFi with public WiFi deployments. 

    Indians would now be able to purchase reliable, fast and affordable data packs in four states (Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Meghalaya). Express WiFi is being deployed in partnership with ISPs — LMES in Rajasthan, AirJaldi in Uttarakhand, Tikona in Gujarat, and with Shaildhar in Meghalaya shortly. Express Wi-Fi is operational in four countries excluding India, that is, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria and Indonesia. 

    Airtel COO (India & South Asia) Ajai Puri said that the initiative would provide affordable access to high speed data to the underserved segment thus contributing to the Government’s Digital India vision.

    While Facebook did not elaborate, it plans to have similar tie-ups with other telcos, including Vodafone and Reliance Jio. It is in talks with state governments and government-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam, to establish similar hotspots.

    Also Read:

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    Facebook exec ponders: How to hold the brain’s attention?

  • Facebook rev, net income up in first quarter on higher mobile ad revenue

    BENGALURU: Facebook Inc., (FB) reported 51.1 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in ad revenue for the quarter ended 31 March 2017 (Q1-17, current quarter) as compared to the corresponding year ago quarter. Facebook in its earnings release says that Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 85 percent of advertising revenue for Q1-17, up from approximately 82 percent of advertising revenue in Q1-16. The social media giant reported ad revenue of $7,857 million in the current quarter as compared to revenue of $5,201 million in Q1-16. a

    Total revenue however increased 49.2 percent y-o-y due to a decline of US$ 6 million (about 3.3 percent decline) in payments and other fees in the current quarter vis-à-vis the year ago quarter. FB reported total revenue of $8,032 million in Q1-17 as compared to $5,382 million in Q1-16.

    Net income in Q1-17 increased 76.3 percent to $3,064 million (38 percent profit margin) as compared to $1,738 million (32 percent profit margin) in the year ago quarter.

    Total cost and expenses increased 39.5 percent y-o-y to $4,705 million in the current quarter from $3,372 million in Q1-16. FB says that capital expenditures for the first quarter of 2017 were $1.27 billion.

    “We had a good start to 2017,” said Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “We’re continuing to build tools to support a strong global community.”

    The company says that Daily active users (DAUs) – DAUs were 1.28 billion on average for March 2017, an increase of 18 percent y-o-y. Monthly active users (MAUs) – MAUs were 1.94 billion as of March 31, 2017, an increase of 17 percent y-o-y.

  • FB adds India-specific options, shows how to build communities

    MUMBAI: Facebook hosted an interactive product showcase for Facebook community to experience in Mumbai. Facebook: A place to connect, showcased brings to life Facebook’s mission, shared across our family of products and apps, which is to make the world more open and connected.

    The event centered around three subjects: Me, My Community and My World. The featured products included Facebook Live, Facebook Lite, Full Camera, 360 Photos, Groups, Events, Oculus, Instagram, WhatsApp as well as our suite of safety, and security tools including Safety Check, Community Help, Safety Center, Parents Portal, Bullying Prevention Hub and Suicide Prevention tools.

    The event served as an opportunity for the teams to listen and receive feedback from the community as they worked to ensure everyone’s Facebook experiences is great, regardless of where they connect. Facebook is building better experiences to work on all connections, devices, and communities.

    Products such as Facebook Lite, which makes it easier for people to access Facebook on older Android devices or slower connections, counts India as one of the top (client) countries. Now, conversations on FB Lite can be enhanced through reactions including “Love”, “Haha”, “Wow”, “Sad” and “Angry.”

    Since the global rollout of Facebook Reactions in 2016, there have been 300 billion reactions on Facebook posts. The most popular reaction is Love, making up more than half of all of reactions.

    Facebook also rolled out local camera effects designed for India. In addition to the frames and effects that come standard in the Facebook camera, they have designed several custom effects for India — so people can create and share photos and videos that showcase the expression of Namaste as well as capture geo-specific experiences in Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, and other places.

    “India is a very important country to Facebook, and we’re proud to have more than 184 million monthly active people in India who use Facebook to connect with their friends and family, and to build supportive communities online and offline,” an FB executive said.

    Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently shared a letter to the community about giving people the power to build a global community. For the past decade, Facebook has focused on connecting friends and families. With that foundation, our next focus will be developing the social infrastructure for the community — for supporting us, for keeping us safe, for informing us, for civic engagement, and for inclusion of all that will bring us together as a global community so we can have the most positive impact in the world.

    Last month, Facebook rolled out its new camera feature. “We want to make it fast, fun and easy for people to share creative photos and videos with whomever they choose, for however long they choose — and the more we share with each other, the more open and connected our community can be,” the executive said.

  • Facebook exec ponders: How to hold the brain’s attention?

    GOA: The final session of Goafest 2017 concluded with the stating of a few significant points by the head of Facebook creative shop India and global accounts APAC Juhi Kalia.

    Kalia stated, “We exist in an environment which is content-rich but the attention span is poor — a mere eight seconds. That is understandable as the amount of information an average person is fed is equivalent to 174 newspapers a day.

    “The flip side is that the human brain is adapting to this shift, and evolving. We now register information at a faster rate and process information in many (newer) ways. The brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text, it gets coded in long-term memory and, therefore, has more recall,” she explained.

    The way people consume content is also evolving. “Consumption is no longer linear. It is customised, frequent and fast. Even our bodies have adapted to this shift, wherein our postures reflect what kind of content we’re consuming.”

    Juhi elucidated on how the different platforms elicit different mindsets and perception. Instagram gives its users the perception of discovery, inspiration and transportation, while Facebook is known for connection and recognition. In the end though, it all boils down to: content.

    “A great creative is a great creative regardless of the platform. Her parting shot to the engrossed audience was, “What we need to understand is how to tell stories based on how people are interacting with the platform. We are at that point in time where we have to find new ways to tell stories.”

    The fast-paced and cutting-edge final session of Goafest 2017 certainly opened up a lot of minds to new technologies and usage of social media platforms. As the day came to an end and people headed to the sundowner at the lawns to unwind, one can’t help but admire the past three days of learning, and it is with a bittersweet smile that people get set for the closing party of Goafest 2017.

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  • Offline first & good on slow Net: YouTube Go beta launched

    MUMBAI: In last September’s Google for India event, YouTube Go was announced. YouTube app has been reimagined for the next generation of YouTube users. 

    Today, after months of expanded testing and refinement, Google is happy to announce that it’s making the beta version of YouTube Go available for download on the Google Play Store in India.

    Every aspect of YouTube Go was designed from the ground up, with four main principles in mind: It’s relatable, with fresh and relevant video recommendations tailored to your preferences; the app is designed to be offline first and improve the experience of watching videos on a slower network; it gives you more control over data usage, by providing choice and transparency into the amount of data spent on streaming or saving videos. And finally, it’s social, allowing you to share videos quickly and easily with friends nearby.

    Key features of YouTube Go include:

    ●        A home built for you: YouTube Go home screen features trending and popular videos in your area, so that you can find and discover videos that you and your community care about.

    ●        Preview videos before you save or watch: On YouTube Go we’ll show you a preview of the video when you tap on a thumbnail, giving you a better sense of what the video is about before you decide if you want to watch it.

    ●        Choose your resolution when saving or streaming videos: You can choose to save a video for offline viewing later or stream it now. And we also allow you to choose the amount of data you’d like to spend on that video.

    ●        Share videos with friends nearby: Share videos with friends and family nearby without using any data. You can send and receive videos instantly and offline with others using the YouTube Go app.

    To get us to this point, Google has worked hard on refining the features that you’ve inspired us to build, gaining new insights along the way. 

    Some things learned in the run-up to this beta release include making the home screen fresher and more relevant for users, so they can find amazing videos easily. Google has also worked hard behind the scenes to make sharing videos with nearby friends an even more seamless experience, and ensuring that the app works well across a wide range of phones and connectivity. 

    While the app is in its beta release, Google will welcome consumer feedback and improve the app before launching more broadly. We’ll also be holding several activities in Udaipur over the upcoming weeks to glean more insights from users on the ground. If you’re in India, Google hopes one downloads the beta from the Google Play store.
    With the rapid transformation sweeping India’s mobile internet landscape, Google is aware there will be an even greater demand for a fast and accessible video app. 


     

  • YouTube watch time grew 400% y-o-y, 80% on mobile

    MUMBAI: With a growing appetite among Indian consumers to watch videos online, YouTube, as per App Annie, has shared that over 180 million Indians are watching YouTube every month on mobile. The video streaming platform at the fourth edition of Brandcast India, further noted that the watch time in India has grown 400 per cent year on year and 80 per cent of watch time in India comes from mobile. From entertainment to education, from news to beauty – Indians are turning to YouTube for every aspect of their lives

    Held in Mumbai, the event brought together top advertisers, agencies, and partners from all across the country to discuss and celebrate YouTube – the destination where Indians choose to watch video.

    Improved connectivity, affordable data plans and huge variety of content available has led to over 400 million Indians online and 300 smartphone users today. In the mobile video era, viewers can watch what they want, where they want and when they want – and this greater choice for viewers also means greater opportunities for marketers. In today’s media environment, while there is plentiful reach, it’s harder to attract viewers’ attention.

    Elaborating on how ‘attentive reach’ has become the new currency for the advertisers, Google India and South-East Asia head of marketing Sapna Chadha, said, “According to a survey we conducted with Majestic Research, using eye-tracking technology we discovered, the first ad in an TV ad break is watched actively by 50 per cent of people while the last one is watched actively by only 13 per cent of viewers. Attention has always been inherent to advertising. But, capturing and keeping attention has never been harder for advertisers.”

    Addressing the audience, Chadha asked them to change how they buy and plan media for attentive reach. She also shared that over the years, YouTube captures audience attention by delivering 95 per cent audibility and 93 per cent viewability.

    Speaking on how to make advertising more effective online, MOAT CEO Jonah Goodhart added, “Everywhere in the world, consumption patterns are changing, making ‘attentive reach’ the foundation of any digital campaign. Measurability is the key to understand the efficacy of any brand engagement and we are thrilled to be the first company to independently measure viewability on YouTube.”

    Maruti Suzuki VP and head of marketing Sanjeev Handa asserted, “When you combine a format like video and you want to reach out to a billion+ Indians, the answer comes naturally and that is YouTube. YouTube allows us to tell the right brand stories to the right audiences helping us capture their attention. Case in point, is the launch of the IGNIS which was done simultaneously through the physical as well as digital medium to engage with the millennials and, the results were astounding. On YouTube, the launch was viewed over 10 million times, and 20 per cent pre-launch bookings came from digital in the first 10 days.” He further added, “For advertisers to leverage digital effectively, one needs to have deep insights into your consumers, look to target their interests and effectively measure the viewability of the ad.”

    Sharing his experience of working with brands, Kurt Hugo Schneider who has over 8 million subscribers on YouTube and has collaborated with over 40 global brands said, “Concept integration and not product integration, is key to making a brand video authentic and earning people’s attention. With technological innovation, brands today have the opportunity to interact more closely with their audience and get a feel of their preferences.”

    Attended by over 800 marketers, advertisers and creators, YouTube Brandcast 2017 also saw YouTube Leaderboard Awards where top 10 advertisers with the most creative ads were felicitated. The award celebrated the brands that performed best through a combination of popularity and promotion.

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