Unveiling India’s digital pulse

Unveiling India’s digital pulse:- In the bustling digital landscape of 2023, where trends evolved faster than ever, the Gen Z and millennials of India were not just spectators; they were the architects of trends and the curators of culture. Notably homegrown social media platforms served as digital canvases where young India expressed itself.

Emerging as dynamic trendsetters, Gen Z and millennials on ShareChat, constituted over 70 percent of monthly active users (MAUs). Videos led the way, with more than 80 percent of content consumption coming from the videos as compared to static posts. A total of 68 million minutes of video content was uploaded on ShareChat and 100 billion minutes were watched.

Hindi emerged as the dominant language with the maximum MAU at 39 percent. However regional languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, and Kannada collectively contributed 38% of the total MAU, highlighting how ShareChat represents the rich linguistic tapestry of India. User engagement on ShareChat was spectacular - in one minute, ShareChat witnessed a staggering 715 posts being uploaded, 2.9 million views, 47K likes, accompanied by 21.5K shares.

Audio chat rooms boasted an extensive user base, hosting 287M sessions in a month. A total of 14 billion minutes of audio was live streamed on ShareChat in the past year. Some of the top chatrooms this year with the highest number of attendees were with celebrities like Raj Kundra who came live to promote his movie UT 69 (173K), cast of the movie Khichdi 2, who spoke about their movie (128K), Munawar Farooqui, who promoted his song ‘Noor’(161K) and cricketer Dinesh Kartik (103K) who spoke about recognising cricket as the national game of India.

The platform's cultural blend offered users a daily dose of entertainment, fostering interactions in regional languages and shaping distinctive trends. Let’s find out the most trending topics of conversation among Indian users.

Festivals: Rooted in Tradition, Celebrated Digitally

Festivals hold a special place in the hearts of Indians, and ShareChat provides a vibrant platform for celebrating these cultural milestones. Reflecting the nationalistic fervour of our digital users, the platform witnessed a massive engagement of over 100 million and around 2 billion views on Independence Day content and an engagement of over 60 million and around 0.9 billion views for Republic Day content. Diwali became the most celebrated festival on ShareChat with an engagement of over 108M and around 1.8B views. Regional festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, and Shivaji Jayanti also garnered significant attention with huge numbers of user-generated content like images, videos, gifs, carousels, and texts being shared. This demonstrated the deep-rooted traditional connection between Gen Z and millennials with their rich heritage.

Movies and Songs: Melodies and Silver Screen Magic

The allure of Bollywood and regional cinema resonates strongly with ShareChat's young audience. Shah Rukh Khan’s blockbuster film ‘Jawan’ was the pick from the movies for the platform's audience garnering around 71K engagements through user-generated content, while other highly anticipated movies like ‘Pathaan’, ‘Jailer’ and ‘Vaa Vaathi’ also generated incredible buzz. The diversity of content was evident as the platform embraced a rich tapestry of culture and languages, with users celebrating a wide range of cinematic experiences. Music, too, played a pivotal role, with songs like ‘What Jhumka?’ garnering significant traction.

News and Events: Keeping a Pulse on the Nation

Gen Z and millennials on ShareChat remained informed and engaged with current affairs. Chandrayaan-3, India's ambitious lunar mission, dominated news consumption, with a staggering 300 million views and 60K user-generated content (UGC) posts. The Karnataka election and the IPL also captured attention, while the ICC World Cup generated immense excitement with an engagement of over 25 million and around 1.2 billion views, reflecting the passion for cricket among India's youth.

Celebrities: Idols and Inspiration

The influence of celebrities extended beyond the silver screen, with Shah Rukh Khan emerging as the most popular figure on ShareChat. Sports icons like Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni also commanded significant traction, highlighting the admiration for cricket amongst the young digital users. With more than 25 million views and an engagement of over 1.5 million, content around Virat Kohli’s birthday made him the most talked about celebrity on the platform.

In the ever-evolving digital landscape, ShareChat remains at the forefront, capturing the essence of India’s cultural trends. IANS/SP