afaqs! gets 'social'; launches The Podium

The first professional micro-networking website for the advertising-media-marketing community, the property will serve as a social media platform to spread the ideas, thoughts and achievements of everyone who is part of the industry.

Banyan Netfaqs, which already has its presence in the digital and the print domain, has now decided to expand its footprint across the social media realm with the launch of The Podium.

The Podium (thepodium.in) will be the first professional micro-networking website for the advertising-media-marketing community. The property will serve as a social media platform to spread the ideas, thoughts and achievements of everyone who is part of the industry.

Consequently, in a category where Facebook and Twitter are the staple, The Podium will create a niche to fill up the need gap for specialists where generalists rule the roost.

Sandeep Vij, co-founder and director, afaqs!, says, "With the remarkable popularity of social media in India, the sharing and participating culture is on a high - a world where everyone can create, control and distribute their own content. And, given that the marketing community is at the epicentre and in a way a catalyst of this sharing culture, to have a micro social site for this community is obvious."

Currently, the property is in its testing stage. Users can upload pictures, follow friends and share ideas using The Podium. They can also share articles, campaigns, presentations (.ppt, .pdf, .doc) and videos (it supports YouTube video links for now). Users can also import their Twitter updates and LinkedIn profiles on the website.

For the record, Banyan Netfaqs also has afaqs!; afaqs! Reporter; afaqs! Campus; and The Mobile Indian. This is the company's third online property after afaqs! (afaqs.com) and The Mobile Indian (themobileindian.com).