indica News Bureau-
It was thought that, Snapchat, the popular photo-messaging app, was all but dead in India. But apparently, it seems to be growing big in the country.
According to Snap Inc Managing Director (International Markets) Nana Murugesan the company has seen a year-on-year user growth of 120 percent in its daily active user base (DAU) in India.
Murugesan told PTI, “We have seen significant user growth in India with a 120 percent increase of our daily active users, comparing March last year to March this year. We have added new functions to the India team in our Mumbai office, with our first employees hired in the strategy and partnership team, sales and creative strategy team, as well as currently recruiting for our content team.”
Although it could be said that Snapchat is growing, there is a growing concern and a ring of skepticism in India about photo-messaging apps. Especially after the latest TikTok controversy over an acid attack video on a woman, which took the app’s rating in Google Playstore from 4.5 to 2.4 in just 3 days.
Snapchat seems to be aware of the situation. “That’s why our team in India continues to focus on culturally relevant product developments, creative tools, community engagement, and partnerships. Over the past six months, we have launched support in five more languages, introduced creative tools to celebrate cultural moments and festivals, onboarded celebrities such as Taapsee Pannu as a Snap Star, added more Official Lens Creators and partnered with local media brands, advertisers, OEMs, and Telcos,” added Murugesan.
On Friday, Snapchat announced a partnership with community-based platform Skillenza to bring its first-ever Lensathon to India – an online hackathon open to national participation to create Augmented Reality (AR) experiences using Lens Studio.
“We see this as a big step forward in democratizing creativity, building the future of AR alongside our community, and making available even more compelling, relevant experiences for Snapchatters,” Murugesan noted.
With the downfall of TikTok, it could be the right time for Snapchat to gain the trust of young Indians and build a community of fun and creativity, rather than hate and violence.
