Bigo Live: Real-Time Social Media Is The New Dawn Of The Internet Era

Social media today is miraged with sheets of filters. A sea of finely crafted content somehow compromises on the raw and unaltered truth of the real world. Launched in 2016, Bigo Live is an app which is changing just that by disrupting the wall between the real and the virtual world. Bigo is unlike all other platforms because as an exclusively live-streaming app, it enables the users to broadcast their content real-time. It also allows the influencers and their audience to have a more real, authentic and unfiltered connect.

Bigo Live that started in 2014 has seen a wave of users emerging from as many as 150 countries in the world. Zooming into Indian territory, the app became the opportunity for many budding talents especially from the tier 2 and tier 3 cities to follow their passion with the kind of flexibility that is needed to pursue creativity. With the company group now having over 330 million Monthly Active Users (MAUs) in over 150 countries, the platform has surely emerged as one of the go-to social media for youngsters.

Recently, Bigo hosted its first-ever Bigo-Gala Awards 2020 in Singapore where it was conceived on January 15th, 2020 at the Capitol Theatre to felicitate its star broadcasters. In conversation with The Logical Indian, the winners of the Gala Awards open up about their experiences and learning from the Bigo App. Nikita, who is a television actor and also a celebrated dancer says, " I have mostly been a reserved person all my life. Bigo actually helped me widen my horizon. Today I not only interact with my audience but I am also able to connect with them." On the other hand, Sameer Family who won the award said, " I am from Mewat, a small district in Haryana. Before Bigo came into the picture, I was doing my day job as a mechanical engineer. Being an inherently creative person, I never found satisfaction in what I was doing. Thankfully, a friend of mine introduced me to Bigo that was going to change my life forever. Today if I don't broadcast for a day, I feel incomplete." Goes without doubt, that the live streaming app not just scooped up many talented Indians but also provided them with a means of financial independence whilst doing what they love to do the most.

Talking of improving the lives of many young Indians both in terms of affluence and satisfaction, Bigo Live stepped up to do some more. As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme, it has launched a multi-dimensional education channel to promote digital literacy among the netizens where India, becomes a major part of its many global initiatives. Talking to The Logical Indian, Nagesh Banga, Deputy Country Manager, BIGO Live said, "In the second quarter of Bigo Live, we were the first platform to hire over a hundred digital educators to impart knowledge about basic English because a lot of our creators come from tier two and tier three towns where resources are not easily dispensible. Besides, we also onboarded digital tutors who taught skills like elementary photoshop, how to make presentations or how to work on an excel sheet."

With Bigo Live, the parallel world of internet has intersected with the real world with the pathbreaking live streaming format. Safe to say, Bigo Live is bushwalking the internet era towards its new dawn on several fronts. Education and entertainment combined, Bigo has certainly proved to be infotaining for people around the globe.