Audio-based alternatives to Clubhouse emerging in India
Indian-made discussion-based apps like Leher, Chingari’s fireside, or Mentza are gaining traction with the Leher app having over 2.5 lakh downloads while Fireside has over one lakh installs on Google Play since its launch
Hyderabad: After the advent of text and image-based social networking platforms, it is time for audio and/or discussion-based online platforms. While Clubhouse – an audio-based social networking platform – did make inroads into this space and has been gaining momentum, many India-made alternatives are also emerging at a time when global tech giants are facing heat from the Indian government.
Apps like Leher, Chingari’s fireside, or Mentza are gaining traction with the Leher app having over 2.5 lakh downloads while Fireside has over one lakh installs on Google Play since its launch in May this year. Similarly, many already existing social media apps like Twitter are also looking at this audio-based discussion space through Twitter Spaces.
“The next generation of social media users is going to be around live conversations and the young professionals are looking at this space in order to gain new ideas, make connections – both personally and professionally – and also form new opinions,” Vikas Malpani, co-founder and CEO, Leher App told Telangana Today.
These GenZ and Millennial populations are slowly moving towards these apps due to the ease of use as compared to a text-based networking platform. In addition, audio/video-based apps are very similar to how we network in real life thus making them more popular than the already existing apps.
“To mirror the diversity of the country like ours, there needs to be an egalitarian social platform that is inclusive of folks who can barely read and write. With fireside, even those who are minimally literate can open their ideas up for the world to hear,” says Aditya Kothari, co-founder, fireside.
A regular user of Clubhouse Hyderabad-based entrepreneur Sri Charan Lakkaraju, founder and CEO, Stumagz India said, “Audio is the next big thing in today’s tech scenario where Clubhouse has got hold of the pulse of society. It is engaging and intuitive and at the same time you can connect to like-minded individuals and form think tanks.”
These apps, according to Malpani, also help the younger generation to network with people of similar interests. “However, we are also seeing a rise in older generation using our app and have also seen some clubs around Covid donation,” said Malpani.
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