Social media has now become an important part of each one’s busy schedule. People from all walks of life which include children, teens, business professionals are actively involved in sharing content and photos through social media. At present, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn have been dominating the social media world.
Orkut, the very first social media platform was launched in 2004 and crossed 1.28 billion users. Later, Facebook offered a user-friendly interface to share important content/post several photos with friends. As people prefered using Facebook more often, Orkut shut down in September 2014.
GeckoLife, a social media platform, was launched in December 2014. Presently, GeckoLife also has an app, that can be downloaded on all Android and iOS devices. This social networking site may soon prove to be a competitor of Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.
The newly launched social media platform follows a similar pattern as Facebook. However, GeckoLife claims to build an online 'family-orientated' social community.
Rajeev Gupta, Co-CEO of GeckoLife, explains the key features of GeckoLife and how is it different from other social media sites.
How is GeckoLife different from Facebook , Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn?
GeckoLife aims at creating a new 'family-orientated' social community, which makes it standout from Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.
GeckoLife offers the following different functionalities to its users:
GeckoLife users are given the admin rights to approve all content and users, depending on the permissions settings set.
Children can be monitored and controlled by their parents, as you can choose to receive admin rights on the approval of the content on GeckoLife.
All canvases are defined subjects or audiences – this is a GeckoLife default, and hence easier to search, recall and record.
How do you aim to attract students aged less than 13 years?
Increasingly, students are accessing technology at earlier ages, either through their school PC's, tablets or smartphones. Children are also getting their hands on low cost mobile/ internet enabled devices at home and aiding them are the BYOD programs that are proliferating in schools globally.
GeckoLife aims to attract users through the focus on allowing one to do what they might on other platforms, but creating a 'fence' around their content. We intend to play on the dangers of other social networks, highlighting how GeckoLife is a 'safer and more private' space to communicate and share.
What sort of revenue models does GeckoLife envisage in the next few steps?
GeckoLife intends to monetise organisations and groups that will engage with their audiences on GeckoLife. Take for instance a 600 person strong cricket club with U-8's, U-10's, U-12's players etc. Currently the group uses email, SMS and other platforms to communicate, share and record.
GeckoLife is a single, secure and simple point of contact for communicating, sharing and recording their thoughts (on a robust technology platform). We also intend to have in-app purchases where relevant commerce is achievable. For instance, the cricket club mentioned above can leverage the GeckoLife platform as an in-built channel to enable purchase of cricket gear by its community from within that space itself.
How many Indian users have registered on GeckoLife?
Having launched recently in India, GeckoLife has shown impressive growth proposition and we have around 5,000 users to date on the platform. What makes this a unique achievement is the fact that our user base has grown largely basis word of mouth.
We would like India to be our core market for growth in the next 12 months.
Does GeckoLife plan to use a mobile app to attract more users in India?
GeckoLife's plan is to have 50,000 Indian users over the next six months. We are even in discussion with several mobile operators in the country for potential tie-ups that will make GeckoLife the 'default' social app for families. This would be a significant positive catalyst for user growth.
In terms of monetization, how will brands be able to look at leveraging the GeckoLife platform? What are your thoughts on brands now targeting users through closed groups on Google Plus and Facebook?
In our opinion, one needs to create a better approach to branding/marketing to audiences.
On GeckoLife, if one creates a canvas about a holiday to Goa, and invites 15 family and friends to share that content with, GeckoLife intends to become an important branding platform for hotels, tours, flights, fun things to do in Goa as part of that Canvas. It will for sure, not be banner advertising.
The difference between this and current advertising mechanisms is 'Pull vs Push.' Too much advertising is pushed to a user. GeckoLife intends to attract users with pull marketing strategies.
What has been the biggest challenge for GeckoLife so far and what issues may crop up in the recent future?
Finding developers to build a robust and highly scalable product was the greatest challenge when we began, and remains the same today. Mobile technologies and innovations are rapidly changing and it is difficult to find talent that stays in tandem with this.
In the future, we believe users will want more features around content manipulation. This will be a combination of visual and audio. This will require simple tools for users, but are always challenging to build for developers/companies.
What are the plans of GeckoLife for 2015? How does GeckoLife plan to be different from other social media websites?
GeckoLife intends to be differentiated by focusing on the Family. Our hallmarks will be privacy, safety and storage/recording. We hope to be recognized as the 'Best social media platform in the social networking space in India in 2015.'
