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September 18, 2006
The Cultural Web: “Social Networking Ties the Knot” (in India)
Posted by Bob Jacobson
On Taulli.com, Ash Kumra, a member of the METal professional group to which I belong, recently blogged “Social Networking Ties the Knot?”, a brief, fascinating interview with Murugavel Janakiraman, CEO of the family of Indian websites, BharatMatrimony.com. I usually don't write about the Web per se, but in cases like this one, where the real and virtual worlds conjoin to produce concrete results, the Web becomes a lively environmental element. Janakiraman describes BharatMatrimony.com as a “matrimonial,” not a dating website:
The entire concept and origin of a matrimony site is entirely different from that of a dating or relationship site. Our model has been strongly triggered by cultural connotations of specific regions where factors like compatibility, horoscopes, and family backgrounds play a key role. Our target audiences are very serious about marriage as an institution and hence it would be inappropriate to compare ourselves with such relationship portals.
One glance at the BM.com website and you begin to understand the complexity of the challenge. BM.com has 7.5 million registered members and 15 sibling websites each catering to a different Indian region or religion. Since 30 percent of its users are NRIs -- “non-residential Indians” -- its reach is actually truly global. (BM.com now includes job listings and product links, including real estate: the complete domestic package.) The company maintains an offline presence through its Bharat Matrimony centers, which it plans to expand in India from 38 to over 300 locations in the next few years, with investments from Yahoo! and Canaan Partners. (Three hundred may seem not enough for India's middle class of 150 million, but the websites support the network of connections.)
Vertically focused relationship social networks are nothing new. Hundreds are organized around personal persuasions, occupations, and hobbies. There's been a long-standing debate in the social networking industry regarding the efficacy and financial viability of vertical social networks vis-a-vis horizontal, “mass” social networks like Match.com, Yahoo! Personals, or the behemoth MySpace, on which everyone's a member; but on which also, no member can be easily found. In America, social networks reflect well the fact that we are a society of individuals, constantly reinventing our identities and affiliations. In Indian society, cultural norms require verticalization: despite the invasion of India over the last 500 years by some Western values, the value of self-identity and communal membership, shared with a partner, remains a central life experience.
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BOB JACOBSON is fascinated by the experience of experience. A planner and technologist, Bob has a Ph.D. in Urban Planning & Design from UCLA. He's been a policy researcher, technology CEO, science writer, and consultant. As a Fulbright Scholar, he studied cellular telephony's impacts on transborder communities in the Nordic Arctic Circle. Bob edited Information Design (MIT Press 2000) and is now writing a book on the theory and practice of creating edifying, transformative experiences.
PAULA THORNTON says, "Understanding human behavior (economics), optimizing interactions (design) and facilitating conversations (markets), are the means to achieve strategic differentiation. This is the focus of our discipline. It is not a 'nice to have'‚ and is not, like documentation once was, an afterthought. It is the means by which to start a strategic discussion and the means by which to drive a tactical initiative. All design should be evidence-based."
1. Gayatri Joshi on October 3, 2006 12:09 AM writes...
HumSubka.com Aims to Revolutionize Indian Social-Networking Market
New Delhi, Saturday, 30 Sep 2006:
HumSubka.com is hoping to take social networking to a new realm. Launched in the last week of May 2006, HumSubka.com is a new social networking website on the block with a refreshing look and loads of features to attract people of all ages and interests. With an ever increasing number of users, HumSubka.com targets to have 50 thousand users by the end of this financial year.
"Once Indians see the value of HumSubka, they'll make sure their friends and families use it," said Avnish Saxena, VP, Marketing and Sales of HumSubka, who himself shares his family photographs through the website with his friends across the globe. "We're here to build a meaningful, good community of Indians", he added.
HumSubka’s development center is located in Delhi and is promoted and privately funded by a US based company in California. Still in its beta version, the site has already been bookmarked by thousands of users across the globe.
Anil Jindal, CEO of LAN Services L.L.C. and one of the promoters of HumSubka, acclaimed, “This site will be an online hub for Indians across the globe with user-generated content, where a user can create content, share his profile and connect with others who love his personality traits.”
Critics question how an Indian company with less than 10 employees can compete against social networking giants like MySpace, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., which has more than 100 million member profiles, or Facebook, which as more than 7.5 million members in high schools and colleges.
Even if it catches on with its target audience of people in their late teens, business experts say HumSubka, like Friendster or Hi5, could be eclipsed by a trendier site in the crowded social networking niche.
"If we tried to create a Yankee-Doodle-and-NASCAR site, it would be a big mistake," said Avnish Saxena, "Our marching orders are to create a global site. India is so multi-cultural that if we can make it here we would have a scalable model that could be embraced in Europe and elsewhere."
“A social network is a social structure made of nodes which are generally individuals or organizations. It indicates the ways in which they are connected through various social familiarities ranging from casual acquaintance to close familial bonds”, said Mr. Jindal in an Interview recently. “This is a phenomenon we’re seeing not only in the U.S., but also around the world. The challenge for social networking sites will now be monetization and how advertisers will respond to the global marketing potential of these sites.”
Social networks can also be organized around business connections, as for example in the case of HumSubka. It provides business community a full web page, with no charges, to display and market their products and services with unlimited pictures and features description.
Above all, the advertising companies can now develop the audio & video clips about their products and upload the same under their respective public profile page to promote a particular brand. This would certainly reduce the advertising cost and will boost the awareness amongst the web surfers for the brands available in the market.
Social networking websites, like HumSubka, have initiated a revolution in the advertising world by providing a lucrative and cost effective medium for the small as well as medium scale businesses.
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