iWorld
Indian youth engages in spiritual content, says OMTV Survey
Mumbai: India is a country that is home to several religions. People tend to practise religious customs and traditions that are more often rooted in their culture. Religion has played an important part in preserving the customs and traditions of the nation and this is hardly unsurprising.
Over time and generations, there has been a steady decline in how the youth in the country perceive religion as a whole. This is mostly imminent in tier-one cities, where religion and customs have seen a substantial decline. However, the same cannot be said for youths belonging to tier II cities. There is more to religion that’s keeping a generation of people from one subclass of society engaged.
OMTV, World’s first Indic storytelling app, has recently conducted a survey on their 2500 users and came up with surprising revelations. The popular app showcasing content related to spirituality has declared that 80 per cent of viewership in the app comes from the 18-30 age group.
The result reflected most of the viewers are youngsters from tier-two cities, with Indore, Jaipur, and Kanpur emerging as the top cities in terms of user engagement. A popular web series called “Gita Stories” is the preferred choice among users.
Within the age group of 18-30, the majority of users (85 per cent male and 15 per cent female) belong to the Hindi-speaking market (HSM).
20 per cent of respondents above the age of 30(adults), take less interest in religious-specific content, with 70 per cent male and 30 per cent female respectively
The most-watched show on the OMTV app is “KALAM” – Gita Stories, which revolves around one of the true-life events of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Azad
Addressing the surge of the younger generation on the app, OMTV Founder & MD at Nitin Jai Shukla said, “In today’s rapidly changing Indian society, the inclinations of the country’s youth towards religious content are noticeably shifting. Factors such as social media addiction, anti-India propaganda, urban anxiety, academic pressures, mental health concerns, and the disintegration of joint families contribute to this trend. Religious content acts as a bridge, allowing them to connect with their cultural and spiritual roots, imparting a sense of identity and heritage. Encouraging an inclusive approach to religious content while providing support in areas such as mental health, academic pressures, and career guidance will help the Indian youth navigate the complexities of the modern world while staying connected to their cultural roots”.
OMTV has recently collaborated with Phando Technologies to deliver a flawless streaming experience to its users. In a bid to captivate audiences, the app has also introduced an exhilarating series that delves into the rich tapestry of Sikhism, shedding light on its diverse aspects.
OMTV is a one-stop platform that covers content from all prevalent religions in India, including Hindu, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, and Sikhism among the major ones. This diversified approach addresses all the corners of different religions and evokes spirituality through various shows covering life lessons. Every individual has something to consume concerning their own customs and practices. Since its launch, the app has garnered over 45,000 downloads, showcasing its growing popularity among users.
iWorld
WhatsApp may soon let users to pick who sees their status updates
The messaging giant is borrowing a page from Instagram’s playbook as it pushes to give users finer control over their social circles.
CALIFORNIA: WhatsApp is quietly working on a feature that could make its Status function considerably smarter and considerably more private.
According to reports from beta tracking platforms, the app is testing a tool called Status lists, which would allow users to create named groups such as close friends, family and colleagues, and control precisely which group sees each update. It is a meaningful step up from the platform’s current blunt instruments, which offer only three options: share with all contacts, exclude specific people, or manually select individuals each time.
The new feature draws an obvious comparison with Instagram’s Close Friends function, and the resemblance is unlikely to be accidental. Both platforms sit within Meta’s family, and the company has been nudging them toward a common logic of audience segmentation for some time.
The move also fits neatly into WhatsApp’s broader privacy push. The platform has been rolling out enhanced chat protections and is exploring the introduction of usernames, which would allow users to connect without exchanging phone numbers. Status lists extend that philosophy from messaging into broadcasting.
Meanwhile, Status itself has been evolving well beyond its origins as a simple photo-and-text slideshow. The feature now supports music stickers, collages, longer videos and interactive elements, pushing it closer to the social-media-style story format pioneered by Snapchat and refined by Instagram. In that context, finer audience controls are not merely a privacy feature. They are a precondition for people sharing more.
The feature remains in development and has not been confirmed for release. WhatsApp routinely tests tools that are later modified or quietly shelved. But the direction of travel is clear: the app wants Status to be a destination, not an afterthought. Letting users decide exactly who is in the audience is how it gets there.
