This is the reach of an App called ‘Clip’. Founded in March 2017, Clip provides users with the ability to publish, share and consume video content in Indian languages and in an Indian context. What does that even mean?
Apparently, for a lot of people in this country, Facebook, Instagram, twitter etc. are just too ‘english’; they don’t feel like they belong on those platforms. For them, a homegrown app like ‘Clip’ which has been built for an Indian audience, is more appealing.
While I personally find this to be an extremely compelling problem statement; I wonder if reality will continue to support this hypothesis. My cynicism stems from the fact that a number of other companies have started and failed to scale in the video space.
Take a look at the graph below:
Periscope was built on top of twitter and ‘#Fame’ (yes, there’s a # in their name) tried to leverage the mass appeal of celebrities to attract users. Both are either going nowhere or losing users with each passing month. While Periscope never truly took off in India, #Fame’s decline is more surprising — not only because of the celebrity angle but also because they raised ~ $13 million!
Presumably, this is because a thin user base leads to low retention even amongst new users. What I mean is, advertising can bring in users but in the absence of a large & existing audience to consume the content that these new users are creating, people will be disappointed and leave.
This is why social media and other UGC driven platforms are so difficult to build. The critical mass at which the virtuous cycle kicks in is always evolving to a higher plane. What was enough yesterday, will no longer be sufficient.
Most people (including myself) are leechers, not seeders, i.e. most people on social media are there for the voyeuristic pleasure of watching someone else’s life — not publishing pieces from their own.
Thanks for your time,
Ashish
- Team KG
P.S. Some of you may find the comparison between Clip, Periscope & #Fame unfair but the idea is both to point out the unexpected reach of a new video sharing app but also the pitfalls of the segment as a whole.
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You can reach me on ashish@kalagato.com
