Times Internet Ltd (Indiatimes) has launched an SMS based service called 58888 follow, which allows users to receive alerts related to specific celebrities. At present, Times is allowing users to stalk follow 51 celebrities. In a similar manner, it is similar to receiving updates based on tags. One can either subscribe on the web, or by messaging ‘Follow <celebrity name>’ to 58888.
On The Updates
Cost: The service is free of cost, and users only have to pay for signing up. So far I’ve received 2 messages in the last 24 hours. So, though it is an editorialized free messaging service like MyToday, they are trying to keep their costs down.
The Messages: Since the subscription to updates from Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, I’ve received the following message: ”SRK got dirty wid Gauri. Chk Superstar play Holi wid his sexy wife on [link].” Note to Indiatimes, and, frankly, almost every major Internet portal in India – not everyone who visits your portal or subscribes to your alerts does it for the dirt quotient.
The second message appeared to be a quote from the actor about international flights, though we’re not sure if he’s mobile-blogging through SMS or this is a quote from an interview. Indiatimes will have to tweak the messaging a little, and regular little nuggets from celebrities is something that would be of interest to fans.
A third one was a link to a video, the message said, “Catch SRK in his struggling days as da star learns to kick ass on <link to video>.”
Monetization: could possibly be through sending advertisements to subscribers via SMS, or just increasing the consumption of their content via GPRS (and then monetizing content with advertisements). Remember that messages are a key driver of consumption of VAS in India.
Parental Lock: (By Preethi) Being a personal gadget and ubiquitous as it is, a mobile is easily accessible to children. How are channels such as Indiatimes ensuring messages and explicit video links such as the first Nikhil received are viewed by their target audience (teenagers and adults) and not age inappropriate users/kids? One might say that contemporary media such as TV and radio have made it easy enough for youngsters to be exposed to salacious content but they still enable concerned parents to protect their offspring through parental controls and the off button.
News Alerts By Topic?
Given the vast amount of content that Indiatimes has access to, via the Times of India Group, there’s no reason why they couldn’t set up alerts for multiple segments. For example, to current news events, for a limited period of time. A user could select a hot news topic (for example: Copenhagen or Telangana), and receive regular updates to the content, accessed via the Indiatimes mobile sites, or videos from the Times Audience Network. News topics, though, have a more limited lifespan than celebrity fixation. Those interested in stock markets would probably pay for company news alerts in addition to the price alerts that many subscribe to.
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7 Comments until now.
Right. The product is nothing close to what the ads suggest it is. The ad (in BT, 2 days ago) suggested that you will get real-time status updates from stars. However, what is actually delivered is far more diluted. All that one gets is quotes from interviews and news pieces, which is nowhere close to what one expects.
This is the stuff that I have been getting over the last 2 days:
1. Priyanka Chopra – Tweets being sent in as sms. Same tweets which are available for free on twitter.com/priyankachopra
2. Salman Khan – A couple of random quotes from the papers along with links to Indiatimes video/image galleries
3. Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar – Ditto.
This is a smart con job that will see a swell of interest which will quickly deflate once users see through the game.
I think there is a strong case for Indiatimes to be hauled up in court for misleading advertising.
what about the advertising is misleading? is a tweet not a real time status update from a star? and if you are 'following' a celebrity, does everything need to be first person? to me, it seems like so long as the information is relatively realtime (a legitimate "if"), it is true to its name…
im not sure its such a con. ive been subscribed to, and some of the updates are things ive never seen before anywhere. sure some of the stuff is probably from other times, but if you really want to follow a star, and get things about them, then im okay with that.
I have already (and clearly) stated why I think the ad is misleading. Moreover, if it were just tweets, there wouldn't have been an issue, since they are real-time updates. But how can anyone justify quotes from newspapers being pushed under the guise of "following" a star? And where is the value? If they tell me that by "Following" a star, I will never miss any update about him/her, I'm on. But do they do that? No.
Essentially, the product is nothing but a very very poor RSS service which pushes updates sporadically to your phone. Why on earth should I pay for it?
Its a free service so no ones paying,
I see value in this and following news
Its a fresh concept. I am sure 58888 will better the content .All the best.
You are not paying for it, that's the point!
You do get real-time updates on the star since all real-time news has a higher priority. But content which appears that isn't real-time is just as entertaining and hence is relevant. You are looking too literally into the ad.
PS: If you didn't like the service, SMS unfollow <celebname> to 58888.