Making Facebook culturally relevant to India is critical: Fidji Simo, Head of Facebook App

As home to thriving communities on Facebook's family of apps and one of its largest and fastest-growing market, it is critical to make Facebook culturally relevant to India, Fidji Simo, Head of the Facebook app, said on Tuesday.

Speaking on the first day of Fuel for India, she said, “Nowhere has this been more important than in India where there are billions of different voices to be connected with. Making Facebook culturally relevant to India is extremely critical to how we think about the country as a whole.”

She said the tech giant has invested in forging partnerships to bring culturally-relevant videos on genres like sports, entertainment, news, and lifestyle.

This has also led to investing in premium music video experience on Facebook Watch by partnering with the likes of T Series, Zee Music, Yash Raj, Times music, among others, according to Vijaye Raji, Vice President of Entertainment at Facebook.

Built primarily in India, it was then expanded globally. Vijaye said that instances like this prove the role India plays as a testbed for Facebook.

Facebook has also partnered with channels like Zee, Sony, Viacom18, ETV, Shemaroo to ensure regular posts of video clips to engage the audience.

“We also work with creators to showcase content that is most relevant to our community and help them succeed. In the last few months, saw an increase in video consumption across categories like food, DIY videos, and comedy, across India,” Fidji said, adding that Facebook’s commitment to India is strong, especially during the pandemic.

Noting India’s love for cricket, she shared that the tech giant rolled out an experience product earlier this year during ICC Women's T20 World Cup to showcase real-time scores.

She also highlighted the fact that edtech witnessed disruption at scale during the pandemic and maths learning platforms like CueMath has moved 100 percent online from a previously predominantly offline model.