Indians are watching videos like never before.
It’s Facebook for news, YouTube for music.
That’s how Indians like their videos, according to a recent analysis of the viewing habits of 641 million viewers by Vidooly. The Noida-based video intelligence platform anonymously tracked the online content Indians aged between 18 and 65 consumed over the month of September across desktops and mobile devices for the study.
“We have witnessed a rising trend across music, entertainment, and news videos,” Subrat Kar, Vidooly’s CEO said in a statement, adding that, “viewership and the average watch time across these platforms has grown by over 40% with growth primarily rising in Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns.”
Stoked by an explosion in smartphone usage and affordable internet plans, Indians are watching videos like never before. Some estimates suggest that video could comprise nearly three-quarters of all internet traffic in India by 2018.
On YouTube, music videos were the undisputed star, with three billion views in September, according to Vidooly data. Hindi and electronic tracks drew the most listeners. Then, it was entertainment videos that kept viewers hooked, racking up a total of 2.4 billion views. Video content for kids ranked third with 1.3 billion views.
The top most viewed YouTube channels in India in September were a mixed bag of the top three genres. They included Hindi music pages like T-Series, Zee Music, and Eros now; TV channels like ZEE TV and SAB TV; and children’s content like ChuChu TV and CVS Rhymes.
On Facebook, it’s all about the news.
News videos – from popular pages including ABP News, Dainik Bhaskar, Aaj Tak, and The Times of India – drew a viewership of 1.58 billion in September alone, Vidooly estimated. Marathi language site ABP Majha featured in the top 10 news Facebook pages, underscoring that some Indian users are more likely to trust regional language content than English material.
Entertainment was the second-most watched category on Facebook with over a billion views. And while independent creators were a distant third, their presence is strengthening. Both @TheAmitBhandana and @ashqeen1, who make funny videos, clocked around 100 million views each and made it to the top 10 video creators list on Facebook, beating the likes of Buzzfeed India and television network Star Plus.
This article first appeared on Quartz .
While the deplorable state of air quality in Indian cities is well known, indoor air quality does not usually come up in the umpteen discussions on pollution. Indoor air pollution is caused by the release and suspension of pollutants indoors in homes, offices etc. It can be just as harmful to health, as it tends to be more concentrated than the air outdoors.
The indoor air pollutants most commonly found in urban India emerge from seemingly harmless day-to-day activities. Invisible volatile organic compounds ( VOCs), for example, are released by perfumes, paints, heated plastics, household cleaners, carpets, furniture etc. Upholstery, especially, acts as a trap for VOCs and PM2.5 (fine particulate matter). Long-term exposure to VOCs is known to be detrimental to health — effects range from eye and throat irritation to damage to liver, kidneys and central nervous system.
Living particles (dust mites, mould, mildew, airborne bacteria, pet dander etc.) too permeate the indoor environment. Coupled with tobacco smoke, they are among the major triggers of asthma in children. From mould on shower curtains, pillows, blankets, stuffed animals to pet hair on carpets and floors, these asthma triggers can be found everywhere.
Any and every household product that releases emissions of some kind is potentially polluting. Cooking equipment like a gas stove, for example, can release carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide as by-products — common complaints associated with the two are headaches, sustained fatigue and inflammation eyes, nose and throat. Even broken CFLs and tube lights emit small amounts of mercury, a known neurotoxin.
The prospect of tackling indoor pollution can sound intimidating to homeowners. However, there are steps you can take today to help mitigate the levels of indoor pollution in your house. Proper ventilation, regular cleaning of AC filters and adjustment of humidity levels can help reduce the density of pollutants. If your home houses elderly parents, young kids, expecting mothers, someone with a respiratory ailment or even pets whose dander could aggravate health problems, it is essential that you invest in an air purifier. Honeywell’s Air Touch range of air purifiers employ a three-stage purification process which can remove more than 99% of indoor pollutants — including fine pollutants such as PM2.5 (particulate matter). This is crucial because with the daily household activities such as cooking, cleaning and so on, the PM2.5 levels can go up to as much as 500, while the WHO standard cites 25 to be the ideal upper limit. Honeywell’s Air Touch range is comprised of air purifiers that do not release ozone (known to worsen respiratory conditions) as a by-product. One of the products, Air Touch I8 specifically, comes with a real time PM2.5 display that helps you monitor the quality of air you are breathing. You can see the air quality improving as the purifier does its job. Most importantly, the technology is certified from the Indian Medical Academy for preventive health and is recommended for Indian homes by them. To see just how Honeywell’s air purifiers can put you at ease, watch the video below.
To learn more about the technology behind Honeywell’s air purifiers and the range of products on offer, click here .
This article was produced by the Scroll marketing team on behalf of Honeywell and not by the Scroll editorial team.
