IMC2020: Facebook says India is at an inflection point, to invest in people, technology, partnerships

Internet giant Facebook said India is at an inflection point and the company aims to invest in India with the focus on social and economic growth .

“Facebook has always been serious about India, and has been making deep and thoughtful investments in people, technology, as well as in partnerships…Our focus on being able to advance India’s social and economic growth,” said Manish Chopra, director and head of partnerships India -Facebook.

In his keynote address , Chopra said that more than 500 million have adopted the internet in India in the past five years and that ” India is currently at an inflection point”. The pandemic has further accelerated digital adoption and led to a growth in video streaming across platforms.

The company has recently invested Rs 43,574 crore in Jio Platforms for a 9.99% stake at a time when data consumption has expanded propelled by cheap tariff plans.

On Thursday, Chopra highlighted how video posts have become interactive across platforms of the social media giant. Live videos have seen more than 8.5 billion broadcasts on Facebook, since the format’s launch in the pandemic year.

“Video posts have become almost one third of all the content posts that are created on Instagram in India. Today, more than 800 million daily active users are engaging on live video streams across Facebook and Instagram,” said Chopra.

He added that messaging has grown by 50% and live video by 60% accelerated by digital adoption during the pandemic..

“Facebook’s video strategy has three key pillars -community, interactivity and social video. Social video is really about having an active video experience and an active viewing experience not where you’re just laid back, and just watching the show, but you’re interacting,” added Chopra