BENGALURU: In a massive response to Twitter not complying with the Union Government order to block 257 accounts tweeting about “farmer genocide”, desi app from Bengaluru, Koo, India’s own micro-blogging platform, has been seeing a big surge in downloads. Not only key organisations, including the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), but Union ministers and prominent personalities too have opened accounts on Koo. Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, tweeted, “I am now on Koo. Connect with me on this Indian micro-blogging platform for real-time, exciting and exclusive updates. Let us exchange our thoughts and ideas on Koo.”
NITI Aayog tweeted: ““NITIAayog is excited to be a part of the #KooApp, a winner in the social category of the #AatmanirbharBharat App Innovation Challenge! Listen to interesting thoughts by ni t iaayog on the app...” The app has been collecting accolades from all quarters in its 10-month-long journey. It was named Google PlayStore’s ‘Best Daily Essential App for 2020’ and got a special mention by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Mann Ki Baat address.
Aprameya Radhakrishna, Koo Co- Founder and CEO and hailing from Bengaluru, said, “We believe it is important to build social networks keeping in mind local cultural nuances. Koo being deeply focussed on India will help ensure a consistent experience for all users on the platform. We are humbled and at the same time excited by the adoption and encouragement by so many noteworthy personalities and recently the entry of the topmost government offices of the country on to Koo.” It was founded in March 2020 as an inclusive micro-blogging platform in Indian languages where people from across regions can express themselves in their mother tongue.
The app is available in multiple languages, including Kannada, Hindi, Telugu, and Bengali, while other Indian languages are being added soon. “In India, only 10 per cent speak English, while 90 per cent prefer local languages. There’s no place on the internet for them to express themselves in their native language and discover others from the same community. Koo provides a voice to Indians who prefer Indian languages,” say app developers.
So far, Koo has verified the handles of MEITY, MyGov, Digital India, India Post, National Informatics Centre (NIC), National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), Common Services Center, UMANG app and Digi Locker among others.