Messenger app ShareChat now in Oriya

Oriya-only interface developed using colloquial words and phrases; nine of 10 new users likely to use internet in native language, says report

Leading social media app ShareChat, is now available in Oriya. It is one of the first-of-its-kind regional language social networking platform, focused completely on India with 15 million registered users and available in 10 languages — Hindi, Malayalam, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Oriya and Kannada.

A report by KPMG and Google states that nine out of 10 new internet users will be using the internet in their native language. 

The messenger app firm developed an Oriya-only interface, using the locally prevalent words and phrases. All the technical terms in the product have been recreated in Oriya so that a person who is not well conversant with English can also use the product with ease. The app claims to host special categories and tags for festivals celebrated locally, encompassing culture and literature, education, locally trending news, Ollywood (Oriya cinema) along with fun, entertainment, devotion and sports.

As of now, many users knowing Oriya were using the app in other languages like Hindi or Bengali. 

Farid Ahsan, chief executive officer of ShareChat said, "We focused to provide a culturally relevant and truly Indian social media platform for the internet consumers of our netizens. Today, we feel proud in launching our messenger app in Kannada and Oriya languages. It is one of the many steps taken by our team to promote the digitisation of Indian languages. We are determined to make the vision of Digital India reality and our efforts are a big leap forward in that direction."