New Delhi: What are social media platforms if not online directories of users’ photos and daily updates? A new survey by the FRND app shows that a section of Indian social media users want a platform that allows for social connection while also preserving privacy.
The FRND Safe Space Survey was conducted among 12,666 users on the platform via in-app pop-ups, using a multiple-choice format. It found that concerns around privacy, online judgement, and negativity are steering users toward spaces that offer greater control, emotional comfort, and authenticity. FRND describes itself as “an avatar-based audio social discovery platform”.
What the survey found
While 48 per cent of respondents cited lack of privacy as a key barrier to expressing themselves freely on digital platforms, 45 per cent said fear of judgement from people they know holds them back. These concerns may be alien to residents of tier 1 and 2 cities, but are a reality for those accessing social media from smaller towns and villages.
A platform such as Reddit or Discord fulfils this need among urban, predominantly English-speaking users, but for people who prefer to talk in their mother tongues, the picture is different.
About 78 per cent of respondents said they express themselves much better in their mother tongue, with the figure rising to 84 per cent among both Telugu and Malayalam-speaking users.
About 66 per cent said that hearing someone else’s voice through modes such as voice notes made them feel most emotionally connected, while 29 per cent preferred audio calls and 28 per cent, text. Hindi users were found to have an especial affinity for voice messaging, at 70 per cent, and even Malayalam users, who were found to have the lowest preference for it, were at 58 per cent.
“People are more comfortable being themselves online when they don’t have to put up a picture, when they can speak instead of type, and when they can converse in their own Indic language,” said Bhanu Pratap Singh Tanwar, co-founder and CEO at FRND. “So much of our online behaviour is shaped by that social conservatism, people need a digital third space that’s empathetic and warm, not just functional.”
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