By Sugandha Rawal
New Delhi, Jan 15 (IANS) Film celebrities are moving on from the virtual world of Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and opting for a more personalised "virtual" gateway to stay connected to their fans and followers -- personal mobile applications.
In 2016, Salman Khan launched 'Being In Touch' through which he shares updates about his personal and professional life with his fans.
Sunny Leone too has an app.
"The app actually keeps us connected all the time. We do games and contests and speak to members all the time, making them feel special with exclusive content and also getting special gifts from me personally," Sunny told IANS.
From Farhan Akhtar, Alia Bhatt, Sonam Kapoor, Amy Jackson, Remo D'souza to Disha Patani, stars are getting on the digital bandwagon, and making their starry lives just a touch away from their fans and admirers.
Disha, who has featured in "M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story" and will be seen in "Baaghi 2", reflects upon her idea of letting fans into her life virtually.
"I have been looking at the best way to help me keep in touch with the people that are so important in my life and due to my growing love of apps, I wanted to see if there was anything available that could help me in connecting with everyone. It is really sweet to get personalised texts from each one of them," said the actress, who came out with her app last year.
To this, actor-presenter Rannvijay Singha added: "The app is a great way for me to keep connected with my fans all the time, even when I am on the go. We do live sessions and contests and reply to them all the time. That way, I can finally put names to the faces I have been seeing in events that I go for and vice-versa.
"Exclusive content is another boon on the app as all my previous collected pictures and clips whether from the sets or events go onto the app. Overall, I feel quite at home while interacting with everyone on the app, it's like a family."
Breaking the technical logistics of the move, Kulbir Sachdev, General Manager India - and Director - APAC at New York-based tech company Escapex, said: "The celebrities realise the value of owning their own independent platform to communicate with their fans without any hindrance.
"The ability to reach out to all fans and communicating directly and being able to identify who the loyal and top fans are and giving love and recognition to them, forges a stronger bond with the fans."
Is it catching up?
"The trend is catching up with Escapex alone enabling over 100 artists globally to launch their own app. The trend is very strongly visible in US, India, Brazil, and Indonesia - the top social media markets globally and is now spreading to other countries like Japan, Thailand and some countries in Europe. Celebrity apps are here to stay."
(Sugandha Rawal can be contacted at sugandha.r@ians.in)
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