Hey Srikanth, thanks for that, we've fixed it now

Pranav Srivilasan

Hey Gopal, no, Chromium is correct. If you see just a couple of paragraphs above that quote, we've mentioned what Chromium is. In a nutshell, you could call it the open-source version of Chrome. Many browsers—now including Edge—use the open-source code from Chromium as a base and then add their own features on top of it. In fact, this is what Chrome does too, adding proprietary Google features to Chromium.

Pranav Srivilasan

Solid points, Ravindra. Unfortunately, RBI divides card transactions into "ATM" and "PoS", while NPCI reports UPI transactions in aggregate. Same situation with wallet data (again from RBI). Payment gateways and PoS operators are likely to have a more detailed picture in terms of how payments are broken up across categories.

Pranav Srivilasan

Hey Kushagra, we took the top 10 from Facebook and the top 5 from Google, neither of which included the Congress. Of course, since both Facebook and Google have made this data available from February onwards, you can't really say how much anyone would have spent before that. Plus, the Congress may have a different strategy when it comes to online ads. (And of course, there's a bunch of other ways to spread political messages on social media, through dedicated pages etc.)

Pranav Srivilasan

Hey Shailesh, so it's not an either-or situation. Something like a SilverPush is meant to complement Facebook and Google. For instance, if you look at the IPL example in the story, if you have an ad break during a cricket match, you can use that to trigger social media ads at the same time. Those social media ads would, however, be targeted using, say, Facebook's profiles (age group, interests, etc.).

Pranav Srivilasan

Good question. The purported rationale is that this will keep Indians' data out of foreign hands, as it were (especially other governments). So it's more of a "national security" perspective.

Pranav Srivilasan

Definitely. You could also take LinkedIn as an example of a network with less negative behaviour, since people use it for specific purposes (I've used it to find potential contacts for stories, search for freelance writers, etc.). We all use Twitter to put out stories and share interesting discussions. And there are several very interesting and/or helpful groups on Facebook (plus, of course, it keeps you connected to people you might lose touch with otherwise). And personally, with all the uses I have for these, I can't just up and quit them. The advertising based "free" business model, though, is deeply problematic. Just as it is for, say, the news media. And when it comes to connecting people and sharing art and so on, social media right now is just great. When it comes to, say, politics, there is a systemic tendency to polarise users and amplify extreme positions. Not because anyone wants to do it, but because that ends up generating the most attention and revenue. Plus, the platforms track you all the time and serve up the data to advertisers, who are trying to manipulate your behaviour—which is fine, I guess, if it's Nike trying to sell you shoes, but the obvious negative example that comes to mind is again politics (US elections, Russia, the way political parties may be taking to it in India, the way the Chinese government monitors WeChat). The argument for quitting is the quintessential "vote with your wallet", telling companies that you don't like their service and, hopefully, pushing them to innovate. Again, this is just one argument, and even those making it, don't expect everyone to quit all social media—for many (including me), it's just not feasible. But I'd say it's still a worthwhile idea to push companies to explore alternative business models (like how WhatsApp used to have a $1 per year subscription fee once upon a time). I'll admit, I'm not sure how exactly to do that (apart from quitting/cutting down social media time). Thoughts?

Pranav Srivilasan

Hi Chirag, that's a fair point. But the argument that, say, Lanier makes is more that most social media platforms (in their current state) are poisonous, rather than simply unhealthy. So, to continue the analogy, if McDonald's burgers are found to be contaminated in some way, we would definitely stop eating them until the company fixed it. In a nutshell, Lanier doesn't say we should abandon social media as a concept—because it's still a great way to connect people—just change the business model. It may still be junk food after that, but that's a different matter. (I'd recommend reading the book, it's short and fairly interesting. I know I haven't deleted my social media accounts yet, because I still need them. I'd definitely like to see a new model though.)

Pranav Srivilasan

From what we could make out, the business seems very conservatively managed. They have no debt on their books, which would imply that they haven't seen the need to raise funds for a rapid expansion of some sort. The main corporate entity also has Rs 40-50 crore worth of cash reserves, which they've built up over the years. And another Rs 20-30 crore of mutual fund investments. The family also has a resort in Goa and is associated at least with one small studio business.

Pranav Srivilasan

Hi Kaushik, yes, the company's USP is that it offers a cheap alternative to running your own network of camerapersons/journalists (the prices it charges varies quite a bit from client to client as well0. And, from what we've been told, it's so far remained content with keeping costs low.

Pranav Srivilasan

Hi Adithya, Kesh Kanti (which has Ayurvedic hair oils and also shampoos) is an important line for Patanjali, close to Rs 1,000 crore. Ghee and general Ayurvedic medicines are bigger, and account for a significantly larger share of revenues for the company. So yes, you're right those are the major drivers, but hair care is also a key category.

Pranav Srivilasan