Blog: http://www.priyankasblog.com/

Current Position and Organisation:
Program coordinator at Johns Hopkins University; Adjunct Faculty at Johns Hopkins University

Areas of Expertise:
Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis, Field Research, Focus Groups, Consulting, Teaching

Educational Background:
Doctorate in Journalism and Public Communication from University of Maryland College Park; Masters in Communication Media from Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women’s University; Bachelors in Child Development from Delhi University

There are no second thoughts to the fact that Social Media is here to stay. Primarily, what has enabled social media to reach such stellar heights is the explosion of Smartphones empowered with Social Media widgets that let one stay social, practically all the time. It is only justified now to take a look at what these various handset manufacturers are themselves doing on Social media to woo prospective buyers.

She is a dreamer and a nature lover who is an industrial designer and into colors. She is also a Photographer, tweeter, trends spotter, toy & game designer but above all, a blogger par excellence. That is how our blogger of the fortnight, Paavani Bishnoi can be described.

A post graduate in Industrial Designer from National Institute of Design (Ahmedabad, India) and bachelors in Information Technology, Paavani is an avid blogger. Blogging since early 2003, Paavani loves exploring the unseen with camera lens and at times experimenting with edibles items in her kitchen and if there is a mood swing, she also indulges in instant poetry.

But what is amazing about her blog is that it covers a plethora of topics. Right from advertising and brands to designing and poetry. Not the one to shy away from anything, Paavani has gone on to give quite an in-depth review of technology products such as mobile phones and also written about category facts for Indian Potato chips market.

Not that people don’t write about these sectors, it is the fact that while she writes crystal clear analytic posts on such topics here travel posts are poetic and dreamy. "Spending two days at -15 degree in Finland was really freezing. But I liked Helsinki, it was warm in an unknown way."

Paavani is the first to accept that she is not a poet by nature but more of instantaneous poet. She describes that her poems are born out of sudden connect with few words which she then weaves in to a flow and produces a master piece.

बारि-शे-दांज

आँसू बहूमूलय या बारिश की बूँद,कया पता
गरज कर बरसे,या चुपचाप हूए लापता।
वो बडती धङकन थी, या बिजली की कङक
दूर छूपे है इतने जहॉ ना जाती कोई सडक।
सूनहरी धूप से झाँकते रूई के गौलौं
हाथौ से ना पकङौ, नजरौ से टटलौ।

Like most bloggers, Paavani too is a clever photographer. Her images come across as true and genuine by themselves. They are like an artist’s inner most thoughts being projected to the world.

It is the sheer brilliance of Paavani that her blog can narrate on so many topics with such ease and comfort that the reader feels he is being exposed to an expert’s opinion in every field that the blog touches upon. Not many can achieve this level of writing and for that Paavani Bhisnoi is our Blogger of the Fortnight.

Get to know more of our Bloggers of the Fortnight.

Keeping up to date with mobile technology would be impossible if not for few enthusiastic bloggers who take the pains of finding out about new technologies, new devices and applications, understanding them and writing about the same. It makes life of us simple folks, well simple. One such technology buff is Sajin Seethi.

Sajin, has been writing for almost two years. He loves understanding mobile technology and how things work. He carefully traces every brand’s activities and reports them instantly. He is a big fan of Apple and Android products, although he is not biased in his opinion.

The blog, my mobile scoop, has been developed to give readers a scoop of what is happening in the tech world. It mainly focuses on the mobile news, as according to Sajin, they are the most happening devices in the world. He also does video news, app reviews and more on YouTube. Add to that, the video demos of new phones are something which impressed a lot. The detail with which these videos are produced is simply amazing.

Click on the image to see the video

What is most impressive about his blog is the manner in which he breaks down the information. Knowing very well, that bombarding the user with too much information of very technical nature would leave them dazed and confused, he carefully lists down the main features and the benefits that the user gets from the device. It not only helps in understanding the device better but also makes the reader feel comfortable.

Sajin also does reviews for social media applications for mobile phones, like the Foursquare application for Nokia and the Facebook application launched by Samsung. This not only helps inform the reader about the services but also about the various features of different Social Media Platforms.

Facebook Application Review

Technology is something which not many people understand but in today’s world, technology is mostly sold to such people. Hence, it is very important that someone somewhere takes the effort to make this information available in simple manner. And for doing that, Sanij Seethi is our Blogger of the Fortnight.

Click here to read more from our Blogger of the Fortnight series.

Look whose calling

With mobile coverage penetrating the length and breadth of the country and new technology helping deliver better and faster connectivity, mobile internet access is gaining acceptance with Indians. Also, with the tariff plans now looking much better than what they were a decade back, the cost of logging on to the internet is as lower than sending a standard message. This has helped the growth of a new networking platform, the Mobile Communities or the Mobile Social Networking.

Mobile Communities

The new number

Mobile social networking is social networking where one or more individuals of similar interests or commonalities, conversing and connecting with one another using the mobile phone. Much like web based social networking, mobile social networking occurs in virtual communities.

Native mobile social networks focus on mobile use like mobile communication, location-based services, augmented reality requiring mobile devices and technology. Advances in hardware and software technology have facilitated the existence of these mobile virtual communities.

With the current software that is available, interactions within mobile social networks are not limited to exchanging simple text messages on a 1-to-1 basis (SMS) but are constantly evolving towards the sophisticated interactions of Internet virtual communities.

Mobile Communities are scoring over SMS based communities also since they eliminate the annoyance of constantly receiving SMSs. This also means that for an individual to send a message to the group they themselves don’t have to use SMS facility but either use the WAP or Internet connection which is now cheaper than SMSs in many places.

Different connection

Lets face it. Facebook and Orkut are more or less an urban trend. It is a tool for youth of Tier I and to some extent Tier II cities. With an established tone on these platforms, it takes a lot of adjusting for people from smaller cities to get used to what is being said. With smaller numbers as of now, mobile communities are still shaping up. People are finding it easier to get an acceptance in such places rather than on Facebook where snob value is now at an all time high.

Also, the key difference between a web social networks like Facebook and Orkut and mobile social networks is that while Facebook and Orkut are a global platform, a lot of mobile social networks are region specific and catering to the non Facebook/Orkut markets where mobile internet is growing faster than pc based internet usage.

(Source: http://www.pluggd.in/mobile-only-internet-generation-in-india-297/)

Say Hello

Amongst the various providers of Mobile Social Networking or Community gateway, mig33 is a leading player. Present internationally and in India as well, mig33 has users from over 100 cities in the country. Essentially mig33 is a free online mobile application that lets users send cheap texts, make cheap calls, chat in one of the many chat rooms and you can even add your MSN or Yahoo buddies and talk to them.

Mig33 user profile

When users open mig33 on their mobile it will connect to the Internet or WAP as it is known. The application has seen a huge growth and an uptick in download from Tier II and Tier III towns in India. Its members engage in vibrant chat communities, share photos, send gifts, play games, post on each other’s profiles, join groups, create avatars and much more. It is optimized to work on practically any internet enabled mobile phone in India, even low-end handsets.

Chat Room

mig33 has several million users in India, providing entertainment services beyond instant messaging, including social games and virtual gifts. Its player-to-player games like ‘mig wars’ and ‘heads and tails’ are especially popular in India, while leader boards and virtual currency has led to the stickiness of the application and user loyalty.

Mig33 Cricket Game

The virtual gifts are something which is most popular amongst the users. According to a survey done by mig33, Indian users feel that virtual gifting helps them save costs on real gifts and 69 per cent of the users spend on virtual gifts that cost less than Rs 15. Such gifts usually include a hug, a kiss, virtual roses etc. The survey further said that in tier II cities, 40 per cent of the users spend on gifts that cost between Rs 5 and Rs 15.

Mig33 Gifts

Another great feature to this is that user can add groups, so for example if a user has lots of family contacts on different sites but they also use Mig33, then he/she can keep them separate from the rest in a group called “Family”.

mig 33 and other social networking is more about entertainment and making new friends in tier II and III towns as opposed to tier I cities where it is about being in touch with majority of friends. For the mobile-first community, social network is a friend itself rather than a place to meet friends.

Brands dialing in

Brands are starting to see this is as precise and targeted ways to build an emotional connect with the users. Early on, when ‘Luck by Chance’ was released, BIG Pictures hosted a contest with Mig33, with people getting to talk to the stars of the movie over their network. People were asked to share their lucky charms, and in less than three weeks, over 15,000 entries were received.

With target audience number reaching close to 50 million on some of these networks in India, it is now sounding as a very attractive marketing tool. Though it is still in nascent stage of development, the first mover advantage cannot be neglected.

Mumbai Indians Group on mig33

With the belief that the rise of IP and wireless technologies would redefine the way people connect and build their relationships and communities, the brands are looking to at every opportunity to reach out to an awaiting audience.

Sponsored community channels that add value to users while building a brand are another effective tool. Another tool that these networks can offer is the sale of branded virtual goods and social games. All these work very well with smaller cities as not everyone in these cities get to log on to internet using their laptops or computers. Their mobile phones are their only constant source of internet connection and hence, it is very important to be present on these devices since they spend more time on mobile, thus, leading to higher brand recall.

Verdict

It seems clear that mobile networks are going to continue to grow, and represent a viable channel for advertising and marketing efforts. What’s key though, is that like any of the new digital mediums, advertisers have to be willing to learn how to effectively use the medium, before they worry about RoI.