Category: Media

Clubhouse is new audio-based social network. The app has a clubby nature where users can enter into different rooms either to participate in or listen to a conversation. The person who made the room is the one who bestows speaking priviliges to participants.

Many celebrities have tried this app — the latest to do so are Musk and Vlad Tenev CEO, Robinhood. Oprah, Mark Cuban, Van Jones and Chris Rock have tried the app.

Though Twitter had rolled out a voice-tweet feature that allowed users to record and post messages, Clubhouse wants to leave a mark on the voice-driven social media.

The app is in the beta mode and is still not available for public to use. There are 3.6 million installs, worldwide for the app which is available only on Apple’s iPhone. It is a new invite-only voice-based social media app.

This is a San Francisco-based company. Its closed-door nature of chats is being criticised. Clubhouse CEO is Paul Davidson.

A successful blog or website depends on SEO process. It is a tool of internet marketing. On searching , if the website is displayed on the landing page, it is the optimisation of the search process. The website has to appear on the earlier pages of the search engine results. Search query makes the website accessible. There are search engine bots or software for display. While doing so, there are many consideration, e.g. the overall of design of the website, the quality of content, relationship with the key words used in search queries, people’s liking of the website, backlinks and a host of other things.

On internet, there are millions of pages pertaining to one topic. When we search by typing the key words in the search box, the best results are on the first page. The engine scans the best pages and the best results are displayed on the first page. This is done with the help of an algorithm — search engine ranking rules.

After scanning the pages information is gathered. This is called crawling. Next to crawling is ranking of the webpages. The best results are displayed first. A search query leads to the display of the most relevant webpages out of the previously indexed webpages. It is a complex process and is done by an automated software. A website preferably must be Search Engine friendly.

When improvements are made on pages and websites, it is on-page SEO. In off-page SEO, a link is built to the website. A website has to be shared socially. When rules of the search engine are ignored, it is called Black Hat SEO. The opposite is White Hat SEO where methods are employed keeping search engine in mind.

Search engine optimation increases our noticeablity. The visibility of the site is more. Bots are used to crawl pages to put them in index. These pages are then analysed by algorithms. Here a number of criteria are used. There are the ranking factors. These serve as proxies for certain aspects of the user experience. When a site is optimised by factoring in the factors or criteria, the pages fall into higher ranks in the search results.

SEO is the fundamental part of digital marketing.

Video streaming platforms called OTT channels would soon have to comply with the content guidelines by the government. In 2020 September, there was a proposal of self-regulation code by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) but it was rejected by the I & B Ministry. It was signed by major OTT players including Amazon Prime. The main ground of rejection was the lack of complaint redresssal system and the absence of third party monitoring mechanism.

Previously, in January 2019, the industry had released a self-regulation code for online curated content providers. Some OTT players signed the code but Amazon Prime did not.

Thus the consultations are in progress since 2019. The industry bodies are again working out on another document for submission to I&B ministry. There is no say given to the users of the OTT channels.

It is to be decided what penalty should be imposed on a member if there is violation of the code. And then if there is repeated violation, whether membership can be revoked.

I&B Ministry as the nodal ministry, is now working on specific legislative changes in consultation with the officials of the three concerned ministries. Previously, the Ministry of Defence, has made it compulsory to get an NOC before putting any content on air regarding the armed forces.

There are many OTT channels. There are some fly-by-night operators. The Ministry is examining the codes in other countries of the world.

In a sports tournament, more than 10 matches may be played simultaneously. As TV viewers, we could get only the highlights of the individual matches. It is possible that in one such match, India is participating. However, it could not be telecast live. If all the matches are to be beamed live, it would be an expensive proposition. The equipment cost is high. Even then, as the tournament progresses, many teams are out of the tournament. By the time, the semi-finals come, there could be two teams only. The equipment, therefore, would lie idle.

The dramatic change came after the introduction of SaaS — Cloud and software-as-a-service (SaaS). It makes media broadcasts easier. There is no need to invest capital in equipment. You can spin up or spin down the infrastructure depending on your need. It is a question of positioning the cameras depending upon the viewer interest.

In the coming Olympics, you will receive hundreds of different streams coming live.

Videos consume too much storage space and huge bandwidth. There is a complex cloud factory serving as the backend. There are encoders which change video into different bit rates. This enables all to watch the stream with different kinds of internet connections and screen sizes.

It is surprising that with Cloud and SaaS, an OTT platform can be launched in 6-8 weeks. The same thing required previously 6 months to a year.

It makes use of machine learning or ML. Information is automatically extracted from the videos to create highlights, thumbnails and promos. A machine is trained to comprehand football and its intricacies. Thus highlights are created as soon as the match ends.

India needs manpower trained in Cloud, programming, data and algorithms. It will give a big boost to many more media companies.

In the year gone by (2020), OTT video streaming channels had a good run as there was no fresh content on TV due to lockdown and there were no theatrical releases of films. OTT channels spruced up their libraries with new original content. The number of paid subscribers rose up. There were specially designed mobile only plans. Movies were acquired for digital premieres. Several movies had direct-to-OTT releases. Indian OTT platforms had a freemium model. They realised that subscriptions offer better monetisation opportunities.

New Zealand-based web designers Buchanan and Karl were passionate about developing apps and websites for a clientele . Buchanan had an idea about a media site for films. He came up with a social media network called Letterboxd. It is appropriately called ‘Goodreads for films.’ Movie goers wrote about their watching habits, informed about their favourites and wrote reviews.

It gained popularity, and has more than 3 million accounts. They have two revenue streams — from advertising and from paid memberships.

On the site, you will find reviews written informally. They have a kind of wild-west quality. There are memes, essays and a few cryptic sentences. Letterboxd has a free spirit — anything goes. It has that unedited feel. It is not puritan grammar respecting language. It is unconventional. Here you get information about the new movies. At the same time, you get new critics.

The audience consists of mostly 18-24 years olds. These youngers evolve their tastes. Letterboxd audience is not restricted to hardcore cinephiles. The appetite for film content is growing in younger age groups.

All theatrical releases have a two hour window. OTT frees the content from this constraint. Viewers are hooked on the basis of crisp content and strong performances. The makers are not worried about the opening numbers. There is no concern for the weekend collection. OTT’s freedom is enjoyed both by the makers and actors. The content is judged only against two criteria — writing and performances. There is a time period of 6-8 hours to say what you want to say. Already, we had the silver screen and TV screen. OTT has given the third screen that takes you to an untapped wider audience all across the world, and into the deep interiors. There are unique stories and long-format content — it allows actors to explore unconventional roles and characters. They can experiment, evolve and attain fame. It is a big universe for a well-made show. If the audience does not like the content, they can stop watching in minutes. It is true democracy.

OTT has massive reach. What is required is a good actor that justifies a role. The actor’s salability or star power does not matter for him or her to be successful. We can call it rennaisance of media and entertainment. All kinds of stories are being told. All genres are being explored.