Koo app, promotion of cultural heritage and expression of views in local dialects
A microblogging platform and social networking app, Koo was founded in March 2020, in India to allow users to share personal updates and opinions across numerous topics of interest in 400 characters.
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Koo became popular in Nigeria in June 2020, when the federal government suspended Twitter operations for deleting President Muhammadu Buhari's tweet.
The app was officially endorsed by the presidency on June 10, with President Buhari leading the cart of his followers to the app.
Source: Getty Images
The Nigerian government's endorsement of Koo, without doubt, represents a significant push in the app's journey to position itself as a great challenger to Twitter in the country.
Why Koo was founded
The founders of Koo, Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidwatka, on Tuesday, August 3, during a virtual press briefing, said the media platform was launched in 2020, to allow users to share personal updates and opinions across numerous topics of interest in 400 characters.
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According to them, the microblogging app as at the time amassed a user base of over 7 million people since its launch, with seven Indian languages as well as English currently available on the platform in India.
What makes Koo different?
Koo enables more non-English-speaking Indians to participate in the online dialogue. It supports and promotes language diversity while offering users a safe space for respectful and meaningful conversations. It enables and deepens online expression of thoughts and ideas among Nigerians.
A co-founder and CEO at Koo, Aprameya Radhakrishna, while speaking on its launch, stated that Koo’s primary goal is to give users a platform, where opinions can be expressed freely irrespective of the languages they speak.
He said users would be able to interact in the language of their choice with some of the most incisive minds on the internet while keeping engagement respectful and harmonious.
Koo allows users to engage in conversations across multiple topics using some of the varied features, including hashtags, a rich 400-character limit, dedicated buttons to share posts across other social media platforms, among several others.
Nigerians’ endorsement of Koo
After the suspension of Twitter by the federal government, most Nigerians ported to Koo as an alternative microblogging app for social interaction. This was exemplified by the presidency as President Buhari’s ministers; aides opened Koo account in June.
Aprameya said Koo was launched in Nigeria because of its rich cultural diversity which, according to him, is an impetus for entering the market.
Multiple languages advantages
Despite that English is official language in the country, Koo allows Nigerian people to communicate in their local languages in the digital space in order to further enrich the local culture in the country.
Koo’s features enable people who want to share their thoughts on the platform to do so easily without having to type.
Magical speech conversion to words without keyboard
The Koo app allows people to speak out loud and the words will show up ‘magically’ on the screen – all at the click of a button and without using a keyboard.
This feature is available in all the languages that Koo offers, apart from English. It is the easiest way to communicate on a micro-blogging platform, especially in cases where a person cannot write a particular language. Koo is the first social media platform in the world that enables this ‘Talk-to-Type’ feature.
Koo app also allows users to follow their favorite celebrities, athletes, politicians, entertainers and thought leaders on Koo. It empowers them to communicate in their native languages, should they wish to.
The emergence of the Koo app has undoubtedly revolutionised the digital space, especially with its Talk-to-Type feature that gives people the opportunity to communicate in their dialects without stress.
FG migrates to new foreign social media platform from India
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that the federal government of Nigeria opened an official account with a budding social media platform from India.
It was reported that the Indian online platform came as an alternative for the Buhari-led administration to disseminate information days after suspending Twitter operations in the country.
Lauretta Onochie, a former presidential aide, spoke on the new development and applauded the government's quick move.
Source: Legit.ng
