Lockdown has been once in a lifetime experience. For many, it meant forcefully staying away from their loved ones while a lot has been able to strengthen their ties with immediate families by being physically present with them as well as with their loved ones while maintaining social distancing. One such app is Houseparty, that allows users to play interactive games while being connected over video calls.
Houseparty, on the other hand, has also seen unprecedented growth in India. As reported by Indian Express, the app has experienced over a 159% growth in the last 30 days as compared to the previous month. Further, despite the positive growth, the company reports that the average duration of calls remains un-changed at 65 minutes.
Nearly half of the Houseparty users are reportedly using the video calling platform with a twist to engage in various online activities like parties, functions, family re-union etc. as well as play games while on the call.
To keep the users hooked on to the platform, Houseparty hosts various events like virtual concerts, pop-stars, cooking sessions etc.
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Vocal for local
Inspired by the increased adoption, the new age social media platform not only plans to introduce more localized content but is also looking to introduce pay-to-access premium content as well.
While the idea of offering localized content may feel a bit off to many, however, as per a recent report on what kind of content Indians consume online, revealed that over 54% Indians prefer to consumer Hindi content online followed by regional languages like Telugu (7%), Kannada (6%), Tamil (5%) and Bengali (3%). Increase in internet penetration and affordable data packs has meant that over 37% or rural Indians are consuming online content.
This dataset highlights the shift in paradigm and also underlines the need to focus on the requirements of this new user base that is eager to grasp online content if it is in a language comprehensible to them. Hence by focusing and delivering more regional content, companies like Houseparty have a good opportunity to gain a strong foothold in India after the initial success.
