Can there be an alternative to Twitter, if not globally at least on the domestic level? Koo, a microblogging site similar to Twitter, is operational in India, and it won’t be wrong to say that it has grabbed some attention. The app was launched in March 2020 but came into the spotlight only recently after Twitter decided not to ban or block the handles that were critical of government policies and made their views public.
Koo comes just a few months after another local micro-blogging site ‘Tootar’ had captured the imagination of ministers and users in India, albeit only for a while. Tootar, too, was pitted as an alternative to Twitter but failed to maintain the momentum despite several government representatives announcing their joining the site. The Koo app has been developed by Aprameya Radhakrishna, who is the co-founder and CEO and is available for download on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
“Just 10 percent of India speaks English. Almost 1 billion people in India don't know English. Instead, they speak one of India's 100s of languages. They are now getting access to smartphones and would love the internet in their language. However, the majority of the internet has been in English. Koo is an attempt to make the voice of these Indians heard,” it says.
“They can now participate on the internet in their mother tongue by listening to the views of some of the sharpest Indian minds and also speak their mind by sharing their thoughts,” the app says further.
The biggest advantage is that Koo offers users is to choose from among the four languages already there. While people can write in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada, efforts are on to add Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bangla, Oriya, Malayalam, and Assamese soon. The app, just like Twitter, allows users to express their thoughts in the form of text, audio, or video.
Compared to Twitter's 280-character limit, Koo offers users to 400 characters to write what's on their minds. Several cabinet ministers and state chief ministers are already on the site. Interestingly, Piyush Goyal and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced they had joined Koo on Twitter.
Among other prominent personalities, who have joined Koo, are Sadhguru, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Anil Kumble, and Javagal Srinath.
While the character-limit on Koo exceeds by 120 when compared to Twitter, the duration of video could be a dampener for many. While Twitter allows a handle to post a video of up to two-minute-twenty-seconds, a user can post only one-minute videos on the Koo app.
The idea of a ‘Swadeshi social network’ is not new. India has previously seen Tootar, but it faded away too soon. For the time being, Koo appears to be the talk of the town, but it remains to be seen if it will emerge as a true alternative to Twitter.
Koo comes just a few months after another local micro-blogging site ‘Tootar’ had captured the imagination of ministers and users in India, albeit only for a while. Tootar, too, was pitted as an alternative to Twitter but failed to maintain the momentum despite several government representatives announcing their joining the site. The Koo app has been developed by Aprameya Radhakrishna, who is the co-founder and CEO and is available for download on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
“Just 10 percent of India speaks English. Almost 1 billion people in India don't know English. Instead, they speak one of India's 100s of languages. They are now getting access to smartphones and would love the internet in their language. However, the majority of the internet has been in English. Koo is an attempt to make the voice of these Indians heard,” it says.
“They can now participate on the internet in their mother tongue by listening to the views of some of the sharpest Indian minds and also speak their mind by sharing their thoughts,” the app says further.
The biggest advantage is that Koo offers users is to choose from among the four languages already there. While people can write in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada, efforts are on to add Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bangla, Oriya, Malayalam, and Assamese soon. The app, just like Twitter, allows users to express their thoughts in the form of text, audio, or video.
Compared to Twitter's 280-character limit, Koo offers users to 400 characters to write what's on their minds. Several cabinet ministers and state chief ministers are already on the site. Interestingly, Piyush Goyal and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced they had joined Koo on Twitter.
Among other prominent personalities, who have joined Koo, are Sadhguru, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Anil Kumble, and Javagal Srinath.
While the character-limit on Koo exceeds by 120 when compared to Twitter, the duration of video could be a dampener for many. While Twitter allows a handle to post a video of up to two-minute-twenty-seconds, a user can post only one-minute videos on the Koo app.
The idea of a ‘Swadeshi social network’ is not new. India has previously seen Tootar, but it faded away too soon. For the time being, Koo appears to be the talk of the town, but it remains to be seen if it will emerge as a true alternative to Twitter.
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