Helo App- Chennai Creators Club Meeting

Helo is a social media app backed by Chinese investors. I came to know about Helo app from Sarath Babu, Chennai's social media veteran, twitter jockey and blogger.

I was little skeptical to install another app and spend even more time uploading content into one more platform, with already overcrowded social media domain, dominated by Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. However as I used Helo app for some time, following advantages were noticed.

Helo App Advantages

-Can upload content from laptop- more convenient for me (Instagram doesn't allow this)

-Lots of focus on regional languages

-Seems less restrictive in terms of length of content, type of content etc

-Easy WhatsApp sharing

This Sunday I attended an event in the other part of town-Kolathur. Helo's Chennai secretary and VP designate Sarath Babu had organized an event to explain about the app. The event lasted for about 90 minutes. Meetup was held at Sri Vaari Party Hall.

Key takeaways from Helo Creators meet:

1. Do not post something without explaining what it is. Using just hashtags is not recommended- write something about it

2. #NammaChennai, #ChennaiFoodie are some of the popular hashtags in Chennai

3. Selfies are not encouraged in Helo

4. Stay around one theme- do not randomly mix content type- like if travel is your focus, don't deviate too much from travel theme.

5. Helo team manually reviews several posts, good quality ones may receive extra boost.

I got a book and a Helo merchandise (notebook) during the event. Murali Karthik won a tripod in lucky draw.  Ms Janani Senthil, owner of Visag and Thapi Saloon and Spa gave away gift coupons to all participants.

Why am I on facebook? Because I get to know what my friends are doing

Why am I on instagram? To see some good photos from around the world

Why am I on Twitter? For news, discussions

Why am I on Tiktok? Sorry I am not on Tiktok

Why am I on Youtube? To see videos, to upload my own videos

Why should I be on Helo app? The answer seems to be "all of the above". Helo app supports text, photo, video etc. However at present many of my friends are NOT on Helo app and current content seems to be largely entertainment related- jokes, memes, celebrity photos. Again this could change over time depending on algorithm and how I use the app.

Helo app is more popular than you think- it has 50 million downloads and is a fastest growing social media app. People behind the Helo app are taking lots of efforts to push it-creating local groups, focusing heavily on regional languages. I don't know their user base profile though- like are most people youngsters and college students? or are they more grown up adults etc. This is because type of content that attracts different demographics will vary.

Current limitations on Helo App

1. Can't post links- Can't leave a link to my blog post in content or bio etc- so I can't promote my blog or youtube channel etc. Of course allowing link will cause spam and dilute audience concentration if they are to leave the app and go elsewhere, so app creators are vary of letting people post links.
Update: I am told link will be enabled after we post 3+ videos.

2. Need to be able to see more meaningful, effective content and not just time pass. Current content seems to be largely entertainment and time pass. Ideal for those who have lots of time to spare. I would like to see more mature content- information that has some real value to people- news, analysis, discussions.

3. Sharing user profile isn't easy. Like my user ID is below. Something like helo.com/enidhi would have been nicer. http://m.helo-app.com/user/6730562765503120386/publish

But the good thing is Helo team is constantly taking feedback and making improvements.

At this moment it is not clear on IPR (Intellectual property rights) on content posted on Helo. For example Instagram says they own everything posted on Instagram and they can do anything they want with it- because of this I avoid uploading original high res photos to instagram. I upload compressed versions, usually with a watermark. 

Was good meeting friends at the Helo App Chennai creators club meeting. Home made food, cooked at Sarath's home by his mother was great.

If you are on Helo, follow me here. I only have 8 followers from 20 odd posts made in last few months.

http://m.helo-app.com/user/6730562765503120386/publish

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