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FOMO
Noun INFORMAL /ˈfəʊməʊ/
The anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on social media.
We all have come across the utter madness, considered the best of its kind, of short-video apps. We often see 10-second videos of someone dancing, lip-syncing to famous songs/dialogues, making weird faces, or participating in viral challenges. With famous brands opting to advertise themselves on these platforms, and millennials going crazy over new trends, non-users have been left anxious and they fear that they are missing out on this experience.
It was not long before Vine was introduced back in 2013, the first short video app, which prompted its users to create entertaining content within 6 seconds. No one imagined that the platform was laying the foundation of a new form of video content. As the platform grew and matured, multiple issues cropped up. New competitors cropped up to capitalize on the trend. Instagram and Snapchat’s better product offering and the ability to share both photos and videos had greater mass-market appeal. Instagram offered users the ability to upload videos that were up to 15 seconds long while Snapchat offered users to upload videos up to 10 seconds long. The endless struggle to monetize the platform and falling userbase led to the demise of Vine in January 2017. Now even when it's no longer available, its legacy continues. Vine creators like Logan Paul, Amandy Cerny, Lele Pons, King Bach continue to put out content on Instagram, Youtube and have even gone on to work in TV and movie productions. Vine was a watershed moment in the short video app industry and began the wars of seconds and minutes. The popularity of Vine led to the development of new platforms like Musical.ly & Dubsmash.
An app that revolutionized the short video apps market is TikTok. Launched in 2017, after tasting initial success, ByteDance, the parent company, spent US$ 1 billion to acquire Musical.ly. This allowed TikTok to reach a bigger community of teenagers but also expanded its operation across the boundaries. Today TikTok boasts a userbase of 800 million and has amassed over 2 billion downloads worldwide. TikTok has been made available in over 150 markets, and in 75 different languages.
Divided by Nations, United by Problems
While browsing through the curated content feed on social media platforms, it is easy to forget or not realize the work that has gone in to make it all possible. In the 15 seconds video we see, there are multiple rules and regulations to be conformed to. The app has to comply with any government’s Information Technology, data privacy rules, and seek licenses from multiple music labels to use their copyrighted music on the platform. The developers have to define what type of content is appropriate for the platform. As with every user-generated content platform, there will be content that will be deemed to be problematic leading to bans, legal issues, and public outrages.
On 3 April 2019, the Madras High Court while hearing a PIL, had asked the Government of India to ban TikTok, citing that it "encourages pornography" and shows "inappropriate content". This provisional ban was lifted after three months costing TikTok 15 million new users in India.
The Chinese origin of TikTok’s parent company has resulted in it being caught in the crossfire multiple times. On 29 June, 2020 TikTok was banned completely in India by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, citing the app was "prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, the security of the state and public order"
In the US, TikTok is rushing to find a buyer and remain functional after President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order banning the app due to national security concerns. A US District Court postponed the ban on TikTok, which would have stopped the distribution of the app from Apple and Google’s app stores after 11:59 pm on September 27. Oracle Corp., which is now leading the bid to buy a stake in TikTok, is also still hashing out the fine-print terms of the deal, which two weeks ago received an endorsement “in concept” from U.S. President Donald Trump but faces skepticism from others within his administration and from the Chinese government.
Rushing Competitors
TikTok’s success attracted mega players like Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube to launch their own short video platforms. In late 2018, Facebook’s TikTok clone, Lasso was soon taken off the market after 1.5 years due to a lack of user base & increasing costs in comparison.
Instagram recently launched REELS which is growing steadily with TikTok facing bans in multiple countries. Instead of being a standalone app like IGTV, Reels has been deeply integrated into the Instagram app.
Youtube has launched a beta version of Youtube Shorts, a new video experience that lets you create 15 second short videos right from the YouTube mobile app.
Surviving stiff competition in an emerging market has always been tough. India with its ever-growing adolescent population, rising internet users, and the digital boom has been a delight for developers of such platforms. Post-TikTok’s ban, the focus of consumers, influencers, and brands quickly turned to the Indian-TikTok clones. The big hope was that the likes of Mitron, Roposo, Chingari, Trell, Bolo Indya, and others would fill the void left in the wake of the ban and promote the motto of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.
Three weeks into the TikTok ban, Roposo saw a 142% increase in the number of downloads While DailyHunt’s Josh app, MX TakaTak, Mitron, Chingari, and the likes gained 10 million downloads.
(Credits: Indian Express)
The new wave of ‘Made in India’ and ‘Vocal for Local’ have contributed immensely towards the huge influx of these clones trying to gain traction and succeed in the short video app market. However, the rush to get the app to market led to new controversies. T-Series issued notices to many such platforms, including Bolo Indya, Mitron, MX Player's Takatak, Triller, and Josh, for copyright violations and warned them against using the work of the company on their platforms in any form. Mitron App, which earlier claimed to be Made in India was later condemned when it was discovered the app was originally developed in Pakistan by Qboxus.
Sharp Turns of the Pandemic
In the early months of 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic created a pandemonium in the world, confining everyone to their homes, restricting economic activity along with various other bottlenecks. In such times, people have taken refuge in short video apps as it gives users an outlet to share ideas, and consume entertainment. Social Media, an oxymoron in itself, made us antisocial but also paved a way for us to reach out to people in different corners of the world.
TikTok has revolutionized the way we see social media. Increasingly, it is making the human tendency of having a shorter attention-span shoot up. The incognizant users get dragged into the vicious circle of challenges, hashtags, and trends, in the end forgetting the real essence of why in the first place social media came into existence. Even the anxious abstainers are joining the platform to not miss out on what every single individual today is doing. While it might be possible that you refrain from joining TikTok or its alternatives, but you can never be too far away from the short videos. These videos have a way of sneaking up on you as they are being shared everywhere, including your family’s WhatsApp group.
That's the story of Short-video apps. They discard assumptions built by other social media platforms, question the primary relations of individuals, and embrace control openly. These wars of seconds and minutes began a few years ago, gaining multiple warriors ever since, each of which wanting to conquer the market while the users sit on the sidelines and enjoy making another 15 seconds video.
Khyati Dahiya is a second-year undergraduate student pursuing B.A.(Hons.) Economics at Hansraj College, University of Delhi. She is an avid reader and is currently heading the Media and Communications Department of the Strategy Consulting Society at her college.