A social network with a bad name promises to compete with Twitter and fell out of favor with the spirit of the “fifth graders” of Brazilian Internet users.
Nov 18 2022 – 18:04
(updated at 18:18)
Koo was created in India in 2020 and is now considered a direct competitor to Twitter.
Photo: Editing: André Magalhaines/Canaltech. Image: reproduction / Koo / Canaltech
For those who follow the emergence of a new social network with an unusual name that promises to supplant Twitter, good news. Starting this Saturday (19) Ku a Portuguese-only community should be formally created and the app should have an interface in that language by Tuesday (22). Information has been provided Byte The CEO of the company is Apramea Radhakrishna.
“Tomorrow we will include the Portuguese-speaking community, and this will allow Brazilians to see themselves in the people’s feed, as well as see the hashtag trends that are specific to Brazil. Soon we will launch all major international languages,” he said. The platform and app are currently available in ten local Indian languages and English.
The social network operates similarly to Twitter, and users can interact through “microblogging” style posts. As a weapon to debunk competition, the platform relies on the provision of free services.
“Koo is offering for free what Twitter plans to charge — verification, uploading longer videos, editing functionality. All this will always remain free,” says Radhakrishna.
“We believe that the ability to identify oneself is a fundamental right of all people,” he says, referring to the recent controversy surrounding Twitter’s blue verification badges.
The network was set up in 2020 in India amid a crisis between Narenda Modi’s government and Twitter. While Modi accused the US platform of ignoring profiles set up to incite anti-government demonstrations, Koo took the opportunity to welcome dissidents and shore up his user base.
The company’s commercial strategy was originally to reach as many Indians as possible. But, with the expansion of popularity in other countries, the company is already planning to adapt the interface to other languages, including Portuguese.
understand the fever
Koo was touted as a viable alternative Twittera giant who has survived several crises since arriving Elon Musk at the head of the company.
With a pronunciation similar to an obvious swear word in Portuguese, the jokes and puns quickly boosted the new network’s popularity among Brazilians.
The owners of Koo, far from stupid, noticed the trend and even publicly stated that the company’s name refers to the sound made by the network’s mascot.
“It’s not what you think!”
To our friends in Brazil!
Ku is the sound of this cute yellow bird. Not what you think 😂🤭🤫
Baitu Radhakrishna said that they asked the Brazilians if they would like to change their name, but they were under the impression that “ku” might end up being associated with the sound of a bird.
“We are also a young company that can have fun. So let’s keep the meme flow going,” he said.
The yellow bird began to draw attention to itself, as another bird, blue and white, began to face problems with its new owner.
With Musk at the helm of Twitter, mass layoffs, threatening emails and harsh statements from the CEO have become commonplace for employees. Now there are even expectations that the network may cease to exist due to so many problems.
