Where are you, ‘Meta’-verse?

Hello Reader,

A lot has been happening at Twitter since Elon Musk took over the social media platform. 

Amid all the hullabaloo around Twitter Blue, the “Chief Twit” has announced that Twitter’s chargeable blue tick verification service is expected to roll out in India in “less than a month”.

Twitter’s strategy to introduce a monthly charge of $8 per month for the verified badge and the massive layoffs have polarised users globally.

According to TechCrunch, Twitter appears to have begun rolling out a new tier of Twitter Blue that reflects some of the changes that Musk has proposed.

It remains to be seen how these changes will affect Indian users.

Meanwhile, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, the country’s largest company by revenue, profit, and market value, is India’s best employer and the world’s 20th-best firm to work at, as per Forbes’ World’s Best Employers rankings 2022. 

The list is topped by South Korean giant Samsung Electronics, followed by US giants Microsoft, IBM, Alphabet, and Apple. The world’s largest online retailer, Amazon, ranks 14th. 

Closer home, YourStory’s flagship startup-tech event, TechSparks, which features the who’s-who of the startup ecosystem, is back. Click here to find out more. 

ICYMI: A photographer captured an unexpected, last-minute snap of a surfer. But someone photobombed it! 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Where are you, ‘Meta’-verse?
• A new formula to get viewers
• Paksha on the global stage

Here’s your trivia for today: How many hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every single minute?

Web3

Where are you, ‘Meta’-verse?

It’s been one year since Facebook rebranded to Meta. 

After billions of dollars spent on developing infrastructure, it seems like the tech giant’s metaverse dreams could still take years to fulfil, with user adoption falling well short of expectations.

Perhaps the firm needs to look back to 2003-04 when ‘The Facebook’ was founded with a user-first approach.

Why the delay?:

• In the first nine months of 2022, the firm’s metaverse division—known as Reality Labs—lost over $9.4 billion spent on R&D.  
• In fact, between January 2019 and September 2022, Meta invested an eye-watering $36 billion into Reality Labs, as per an Insider analysis.
• Horizon Worlds (Meta’s social virtual reality platform) has seen fewer than 200,000 monthly active users—a far cry from Meta’s plan for 500,000 MAUs. The firm has since revised its target to 280,000.

Social Media

A new formula to get viewers

In September, several residents in Mumbai received a pamphlet from SonyLiv with their daily groceries. It featured some of the streaming platform’s recent shows with a QR code to download the app and its subscription plans.

Streaming platforms are experimenting with customer acquisition strategies as viewers are either spending fewer hours glued to their television devices at home, while also having a bigger array of options to choose from.

What’s happening?:

• Over the past year, the price of digital ads has shot up, says Sai Nagesh, an advertising veteran with Laqshya Media, leading platforms to think of innovative and cost-effective ways to reach customers.
• Since its launch on the Google PlayStore in August 2021, Chaupal has run both digital and non-digital campaigns, including brand events at malls and concerts across colleges in Punjab, to generate awareness around the streaming platform. 
• Times Internet-owned MX Player launched a watch-now-pay-later offering in June. The buy-now-pay-later model came under RBI’s scrutiny in July. However, the platform continues to offer this option.

SMB

Paksha on the global stage

Launched in 2021, Kolkata-based jewellery brand Paksha has a unique set-up. With a team of master craftsmen, artisans, and high-tech facilities all available in-house, it has the distinct advantage of overseeing all aspects of the product journey by itself.

“I grew up in the jewellery industry,” says Sunaina Ramisetty, owner of Tarinika, and the force behind its new venture, Paksha.

Jewellery for all:

• With Tarinika, the founding company has also been in the business of shipping jewellery globally and has been able to extend that expertise to Paksha. 
• Initially, strictly in the B2B space, the company displayed its wares at jewellery shows around the US. It started its online operations in 2018. Ever since then, it’s been growing at a rate of 200%, year on year.
• Over the years, the company started receiving many requests from customers asking for customised jewellery options. This, coupled with an ambition to become a one-stop shop for all things jewellery, made the idea of starting Paksha more concrete.

News & updates

• Climate chaos: Delegates at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt agreed after late-night talks to put the delicate issue of whether rich nations should compensate poor countries most vulnerable to climate change on the formal agenda for the first time.
• If not Twitter, what?: You may not have heard of Mastodon, but now it’s growing rapidly. Some are fleeing Twitter for it or at least seeking out a second place to post their thoughts online as Twitter faces layoffs, controversial product changes, an expected shift in its approach to content moderation, and a jump in hateful rhetoric.
• Zero COVID, more volatility: Chinese markets are facing another volatile week after health officials vowed to “unswervingly” stick to the country’s COVID Zero approach, damping investor optimism that Beijing was working toward easing restrictions.

How many hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every single minute?

Answer: 300 hours.

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