Editorial: Veni, vidi, vici? Not for Koo

Earlier this month, social media platform Koo, which pitched itself as a rival and alternative to Twitter (now X), is shutting down, as talks for a partnership with multiple larger internet companies, did not yield the desired outcomes. In spite of the keenness of the co-founders, Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka to keep the app running, the high cost of technology services, coupled with a funding winter, sounded Koo’s death knell.

This desi microblogging platform’s popularity had peaked around 2021 amid the Centre's spat with Twitter and growing calls for expanding the ecosystem of homegrown digital platforms. Back then, Koo experienced heady growth in user metrics — grossing about 2.1 million daily active users, about 10 million monthly active users, and onboarding over 9,000 VIPs. Even union ministers and government bodies had endorsed it. The founders said the company was months away from beating Twitter in India two years back, a short term goal that was within reach, provided the funding remained uninterrupted.

It might be futile to single out Koo for an unceremonious exit from the cutthroat arena of social media. Apps made in Tamil Nadu have also succumbed to the headwinds endemic to cyberspace. A case in point — the voice-based social networking platform, Hoote (rechristened as Huut), launched by Soundarya Rajinikanth. The app went out of action within two years of appearing on the Play Store. Zoho Corporation’s Arattai, pitched as an alternative to WhatsApp also faced a similar phase-out, racking up only about 1 lakh downloads since its launch in 2021.

So what is the stumbling block in building long-lasting, global standard apps in India? Stakeholders believe developers are reinventing the wheel — essentially creating kn0ck-offs of already existing international products and customising it to the domestic market. We see this in the ride-sharing space with Ola and Rapido appropriating Uber and Lyft; in the restaurant aggregating space — with Zomato and Swiggy taking on GrubHub and DoorDash; and even in the payments space. It’s not that we don’t have an original bone in our programming cartilage, but it’s been the norm rather than the exception, even in the global market.

For instance, during the pandemic, when people craved for some human connection — social media companies cooked up the proverbial equivalent of a fireside chat, or rather a campfire story. Once Clubhouse had taken over a substantial bit of our limited attention span, Twitter rapidly followed it up with a feature called Spaces. Both are nowhere to be seen, thanks to our return to real world conversations, and in no small measure, the thousands of podcast episodes on Spotify. This transitory behaviour seen among social media users is reminiscent of tourists hanging around a hotspot and scurrying away once the kick has worn off.

Industry watchers believe that creating scalable local products is a long, hard process, which requires a significant infusion of funds, time, as well as cutting edge innovation. And it’s doubly hard to generate revenue via advertising in social media apps. Let’s not forget, the proposed Digital India Act places the onus of moderating and regulating user-generated content on the platforms themselves. Unless a company has deep pockets like X, content moderation alone could sink the ship. Going forth the mantra for Indian app developers should be the presence of a killer USP that tackles specific use cases, and an undisputed first mover advantage.