Meta says India most significant country for all new things across its platforms
Kolkata (PTI): India is the most significant country for Meta in terms of all the new things that feature across its platforms -- Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, a top company official said.
Meta has also provided a great opportunity for numerous brands and millions of creators to express their creativity and build audiences in India through short-form videos, said Manish Chopra, Director and Head of Partnerships for Facebook India (Meta).
"India is a very critical market for our platforms from multiple dimensions. A lot of new product learning and incubation is done here, and 'Reels' is an example of that... this is the market where we have done the most amount of testing of new product features.
"India is the most significant market where the focus is for all the new things that we are doing across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp," he told PTI.
Chopra was speaking on the sidelines of Meta's annual 'Creator Day', which was recently held for the first time in Kolkata.
The event celebrates creators and gives them a chance to create, collaborate and learn from each other, he said.
Chopra said 'Reels' (short-from videos), which was launched two years back, has gained massive popularity in India, including tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
"India is the lighthouse country for 'Reels' for Meta globally. As per a new research report, around 200 million people are spending about 45 mins per day on short-form videos, and this figure is estimated to go up to 600 million people.
"Reels is helping creators express their creativity, passion, and build audiences and followers that relate with them through the content," he said.
Short-form videos have also become a potent medium for brands to promote their products on Facebook and Instagram, the official said.
'Reels' provide a different and authentic kind of voice for brands to engage with users, he said.
"Digital advertising is a highly performing means for brands (large and small). It's an efficient way to grow... In India, more than 50 per cent of the followers for the businesses that are on Instagram are coming from tier-2 and tier-3 cities; so a company can reach out to these markets by being on Instagram and Facebook," Chopra said.
He also said that a lot of music trends have been happening through short-form videos, as artistes make use of the '1 Minute Music' format on Instagram to get "tremendous" distribution.
"We believe that cricket, Bollywood and music define a lot of culture in India. So, we continue to invest closely with partners who create these IPs (intellectual property)," he said.
Meta had recently announced a partnership with the ICC that would enable people to watch the best match moments and highlights of the Men's T20 World Cup, through clips on 'Reels' on Instagram and Facebook.
On fake profiles and the spread of misinformation on Meta platforms, Chopra said the tech conglomerate takes constant measures to rein in such menace.
"Putting a check on fake profiles and spread of misinformation is a constant area of investment for us. We are proactively taking down millions of fake accounts, and have a large organisation that ensures we are responding appropriately to complaints. We also help users become more secure about their own accounts through new security features," he said.
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Feels good when you get most decisions right: KL Rahul
Lucknow (PTI): Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul was chuffed to get most of his decisions right as he guided his team to a convincing eight-wicket win over defending champions Chennai Super Kings in an IPL game here on Friday.
Rahul had a good day in office as he was spot-on with his bowling changes and also took two catches and affected a stumping before returning to smash a match-winning 53-ball 82 to boot with.
"Feels good at the end of the day, When you win, looks like you make all the decisions right," said Rahul, who was adjudged the Player of the Match, during the post-match presentation.
"Impossible to get all right. Depends on the kind of wicket we are playing on and the kind of batters there are. We spend time doing homework on tactics and strategy and we spoke about them not settling against one style of bowling."
LSG had kept things under control before Moeen Ali (30 off 20) and MS Dhoni (28 off 9) went on a six-hitting spree to take CSK to a fighting 176 for six.
"Halfway stage, I would have been happy with 160. Felt the wicket was slow, a bit of grip but not too much. 160-165 would have been ideal.
"But MSD walks in and the bowlers feel intimidated. He walks in and bowlers were under pressure, the crowd was really loud, he has done it in the past."
Chasing 177, Rahul (82) and De Kock (54) batted with authority during their match-winning alliance of 134, the highest partnership for any wicket at the Ekana Stadium, as LSG scored 180 for 2 in 19 overs.
"Felt that if we bat well, we could chase it down. I have been trying to assess the situation and today it came off. With Chennai's spinners, they tried to put brakes on us," he said.
"We tried to get to a good start. Tried to take them down, luckily it came off. When your partnership goes on, you can take a few more chances. Glad that it happened."
Ruturaj Gaikwad, the CSK captain, said his team was 10-15 runs short with dew coming in.
"We finished off very well, couldn't have asked for more. But after powerplay, we couldn't kick on till 14-15th over. We lost wickets regularly and were 10-15 short.
"Slightly difficult to bat but with Impact Player rule you need an extra batter. With dew coming on later, felt 180-190 could have been good."
CSK bowlers couldn't produce a breakthrough as Rahul and De Kock batted well in the powerplay and Gaikwad agreed they needed to bowl better in the first six overs.
"[Bowling in the powerplay] is one area we would like to improve, puts opposition on the back foot if we can get wickets in the powerplay. Good to play them again soon, will come back with homework done," he said.
The two teams will again face off on April 23 at Chepauk.
