Facebook and pedigree

The Nielsen Company has published this report (via Plugged.in) on the usage patterns of online social networking trends in India. Excerpts:

The Nielsen Company recently conducted a survey in India using its online research panel “Your Voice” on the usage patterns of Social Networking websites and found keeping in touch with people they know to be the strongest reason for joining a social networking site for the vast majority of Indian respondents (82%). The Nielsen survey also found over half (58%) joined a social networking site to reconnect with old acquaintances they have lost touch with, and to make new friends (53%). Professional networking was a strong fourth for 43%.

And…

Security reasons were cited by 68 percent of the respondents for using alternate identities on sites. They prefer not to reveal their personal details. 35 percent chose to use an alternate identity “Just for fun”.

What (especially) didn’t work for me about this study…

The survey was conducted amongst 301 people across various age groups starting from 15 years onwards.

When one is drawing usage patterns in online social networking in India, would a sample size of 301 suffice? Sounds rather strange.

Anyways, here’s another interesting observation (about the competition in the social networking space in India) from a cover story about Facebook (registered users only) in India’s leading weekly magazine, Outlook:

Facebook, on the other hand, has a whiff of pedigree, privilege and exclusivity about it, since it was founded by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg and was originally restricted to students of Harvard and other Ivy League colleges; an impression strongly reinforced when a study last year concluded that Facebook users tended to be better-educated and wealthier than those on other networking sites. That Facebook comprises a well-heeled crowd that freely shares its consumer tastes means that even if its numbers don’t quite match Orkut’s, it’s by far the most sought-after hunting ground for market researchers and targeted advertising.

Experientially, I’d agree with this strong generalization (about “whiff of pedigree, privilege and exclusivity”). But, I wonder if the origins of Facebook really have much to do with the kind of people who populate the site? I can understand that being an influencer in the US, where it all started, but would that trend spread to far flung countries like India as well?

New age marketing

HDFC Standard Life Insurance has created a ‘Responsibility Quotient’ application on Facebook, I’m guessing one of (if not the first) time a major Indian business entity is taking to the social networking platform for marketing and brand building.

The ‘application’ is nothing but a contest-quiz, which if you happen to win, your parents get to fly to Paris for a vacation! Cool, eh? I think the whole thing’s a decent idea considering it reinforces the concept behind one of their recent products, a ‘Unit Linked Savings Plan’, that’s apparently “a plan ideal for young professionals”.

Buy online to avoid embarassment

Heard about this online startup based out of India (from Plugged.in), ShopImagine. Their claim to fame — “India’s largest luxury lingerie selection”.

Their About Us page says -

“Of all of the complaints that men and women have about buying lingerie, the embarrassment of having to go into a store and buy sexy undergarments that would otherwise be kept private is the number one complaint. At shopimagine.in you can buy babydolls, teddies, camisoles, corsets, bustiers, clubwear, sexy bras and panties in the comfort of your own home at any time of day or night.”

I can understand men having to deal with this embarrassment, but it is rather surprising that women (apparently) feel the same way.

Also, the models used seemed to be all non-Indians and I’m now really curious:

1. Was this intentional? Or was it more of convenience, as in, using the catalogs of the companies that these guys source from rather than having to organize an exclusive photo-shoot in India with local models?
2. Does it make a difference to the target audience (both men and women)? Does it influence their purchasing behaviour at all (either ways)?
3. And, is there an “aspirational” aspect to this at all (like the “Fair & Lovely” phenomena)?

Thoughts?

“Before Mummy finds one”

A banner ad on Facebook for SimplyMarry.com, a mirror of what’s part of day-to-day life/culture in most parts of India…(I especially like the use of the word “Mummy”)!

Sorry, store’s closed!

Is this the only website in the world that virtually “closes down” for few hours everyday???? A classic case of technical limitations, rather than users’ needs, driving the specifications!

Yahoo’s driving directions in India

First, it was RouteGuru. Now, Yahoo India has launched driving directions, with the added bonus of “auto fares” for that route! Sounds cool. But the reality…

I searched for the route from Old Madras Road to Cunningham Road. The good news is that Landmark-based driving directions (which RouteGuru kick started few months ago) seems to work as well as they do on RouteGuru.

But, here are couple of issues to be resolved:

• The “auto fare” is far from reality. For the above route that I looked up, the “auto fare” displayed is Rs. 45!!! That was probably the fare several years ago!!
• The results also show the time it’s supposed to take for that route. And, going by the results here, it’s supposed to take me 25 minutes to get there. Yeah, right! Probably on a Sunday, when the whole city’s under curfew!

Anyways, sarcasm aside, I thought the “auto fares” feature is a really good idea. But, it’s got to be implemented with a reality-check. You can’t release this feature without having tested it thoroughly with real-life data.

Interestingly, I can see this feature working very differently in a city like Chennai. For those unfamiliar with Chennai’s infamous auto drivers, they don’t use the meter at all…it’s just a “flat rate”, depending on their mood or state of mind at that moment! So, as & when the Yahoo “auto fares” feature is updated with more realistic auto fares, this could probably be used by those in Chennai to figure out what’s the bargaining benchmark, especially for those who’re new to the city!

With regards to the “Time” mentioned for each route, this is quite redundant, unless integrated with a real-time traffic monitoring system like MapUnity’s BTIS application. Maybe it’s on the cards…who knows, but until then it’s quite a pointless, even misleading feature.

(Trying) to go local

In an attempt to go local in India, Microsoft’s Office website for India, is in Hindi by default!!! And, there doesn’t seem to be way to change the language to English while still being in the ‘India site’.

This seems like a classic case of misplaced localisation. Wonder why somebody at MS hasn’t figured out selecting the India site doesn’t necessarily mean people want Hindi! There’s a sizable audience in the country that doesn’t know (and even aren’t too fond of) Hindi…I could see many of them getting really irritated on seeing Hindi, and more importantly, not being able to change it back to English (or to other Indian languages).

Socially notworking

A dozen social networking sites coming up every other day, supposedly “India specific”. This reminds me of the dot com craze! The most recent one I heard about, takes the cake — Yaari.com!!

First of all, their website sucks. And if that wasn’t bad enough, I’ve received emails that seem to be from my friends, inviting me to join Yaari.com…but the truth is, that friend doesn’t have a clue about Yaari.com and he/she didn’t ever send an invite! Heights of spam!

BigAdda.com and Fropper.com (among several dozen others) promised a lot with heavy marketing…but their “most popular” groups/networks/addas seem to be infested with desperate & wannabe “cool dudes”. Here’s a sample from BigAdda.com…

Hi this is XYZ from Varanasi, any female wana friendship or want to share their emmotions please contact with me or mail me at 09X242XYY42 or XYZ @ yahoo.com, I am a Software Engineer posted in Govt Department and also I am running my Software Company sucessfully, I have big project of state govt. Please feel free to contact with me

Excerpts from Fropper.com’s mission statement…

Fropper’s mission is to allow everyone to frop (“friend hop” apparently) in a convenient, clean manner so that they can eliminate loneliness from their lives (here’s where you fall off your chair!), succeed and find happiness.

Time to get back to Facebook!

Being (a) patient…

I’ve been unwell off-late and as a result, have been spending a fair (!) amount of time at hospitals! Few thoughts & experiences…

• The complicated and inconsistent billing process: When one is really sick and can barely walk, why does the hospital create a process which requires the patient (or whoever that accompanies them) to walk across to the other end of the hospital and do the billing, and then return to that department again?! I’ve seen this happen not just in several hospitals in India, but even at hospitals in the US!
  Gives one the feeling, it’s taken for granted that a patient would be visiting with at least one other person! This despite the fact that some of these hospitals have access to very good technology and could implement a less ‘running-from-pillar-to-post’ process.

• During an informal conversation with a doctor at one of Bangalore’s top hospitals, he talked about this trend of patients (and their families/relatives) coming armed with a whole host of information (dug up via Google obviously) about the patient’s illness/condition, the diagnosis and the treatment.While that’s a great sign of today’s changing times, the downside however is, the patient (and their families) are getting more difficult to deal with, from the doctor’s perspective. People dig up all kinds of information on the Net and then start “asking” and even advising (!) the doctor about the future course of action!

  Through my growing years, I’ve come across several in my extended family who’s general view of doctors has been, “Oh, he wants to make money by operating on you or getting you to do these million tests and scans!” Given these kind of notions some of us may have been brought up on, the Net can end up creating more confusion & chaos, rather than providing clarity. My empathies with the docs!

  So, who’s to decide how much is too much (information)? I guess, like some wise (South Indian?) said, “That that man, that that…decision!”

• God bless whoever invented anaesthesia! Zero pain (and of course, zero recollection)!

Bollywood blogging

Bollywood’s blogging…

Some of the new breed of Bollywood directors like Anurag Kashyap and Sudhir Mishra have been blogging at Passion for Cinema (PFC). Ashvin Kumar (youngest of the 6 directors from India to have been nominated for an Oscar) has even recently released a preview of his movie, The Forest. Never imagined a Bollywood director would say something like “watch it on Facebook or YouTube”!

Also, they’re now open for submissions for the Online Film Festival for One Minute Movies. I liked the awards…nothing fancy, but definitely valuable for novice and amateur film makers, who’re looking for a good training ground. Check these out…

The winner of the PFCOne 2007 Festival gets to choose one of the following prizes followed by the runners up who select from the remaining prizes offered.

15 days Internship with Anurag Kashyap on the sets of his next film DEV D, in Delhi, approximately around December/January

Writing Internship with Hansal Mehta for his next movie, in Bombay, approximately around March/April 2008

30 days Internship with Pavan Kaul on his next proposed film, around mid 2008.

15 days Theater internship with Ramu Ramanathan for Festivals and Plays, around end of December/January

Internship with Onir on his next movie which begins around early to mid 2008

30 day Internship with Nishikant Kamat on his next movie which begins around April 2008

Good to see Bollywood take to blogging.