We are now in the last month of 2015, a year that was not phenomenal for us as far as performance yardsticks are concerned but was a wonderful year in terms of planning and deciding future strategies. The Frustrated Indian touched the 6,00,000 mark today on Facebook and it is no mean feat considering we started as a random social experiment and slowly but steadily we are turning into a force to reckon with.
What do 6,00,000 fans mean to us?
A lot. A LOT. More fans bring with themselves more variety, more colors and more life to the platform and hence we need to adjust ourselves too. What started as a typical North Indian Page has reached the innermost nooks of South, West and East India. We have been posting news and analysis from all parts of India and with the addition of talented columnists from all across India, expect the reach and coverage to get wider.
What is the way forward?
We reached a saturation point on Facebook, after which our likes and reach ceased to increase. We aren’t a funded ‘startup’. And unlike what many of our haters think, we aren’t paid by the Bhartiya Janata Party either :) . Big pages on Facebook pay big and with the new FB Page Rank Algorithm in Place, our organic reach nosedived. It was time to switch to unexplored territories.
The Frustrated Indian on Twitter: Honestly, the FB Admins are not gifted with the art of funny one liners or coming up with multiple one liners on the same topic, an art that famous twitter users are either gifted with or have perfected. We passed the baton to the right candidates and they have been phenomenal. You’d be glad to know that within a matter of three months the triumvirate of Rajat Rawal, Nirbhay Mishra and Vikas Maity have taken The Frustrated Indian on twitter from a measly 2500 to almost 9000.
The Frustrated Indian Website: We decided to bring our old, defunct and almost written off website back to business. My old friend Yash Kumar Sharma gave a facelift to the website and tuned up the performance. And when I published the first post about ‘hiring’ columnists for the website, I was amazed to see the response of people wanting to strengthen the cause. The mailbox was soon full with enquiries about working as a columnist for The Frustrated Indian. Some of our articles went on to become one of the most trended articles on the Internet. Some were quoted in the national media and even the IT cell of our favorite political party used our articles to shut the mouths of nonconformists. It was inspiring. We have been adding new writers to the team at a frantic pace. And we plan to keep the numbers ticking. Oh and Yash is working on a new update.
The Frustrated Indian App: Inspired by the thrilling performance of our blog articles, we decided to befriend the friendly green google bot, Android that is. But App development comes with a hefty price tag. At least I used to think so, before I met a team of 20 somethings. Pawan, Rajan, Devesh and Sagar created a fully functional Android App all in a matter of 15 days. The App has been appreciated as well and that shows in the ratings section. The Developers have big plans for us. So do not forget to download our app, in case you still haven’t.
So is the Facebook Page going down?
No it is not and it never will be. Our Facebook Page is our identity and it will always remain our first priority. The page is where we found you all. But expect more article links in the coming days, expect meaningful content and well researched opinion pieces. Also expect the likes and reach to go further up, because hey we are selectively boosting our posts too ;-)
What!! Is TFI really boosting its posts?
Yes. We were dead against it but realized that a little pragmatism doesn’t hurt. We noticed that pages with half-baked content and conspiracy theories were winning the race and we were stuck in the small world created by us. It was time to move on, so we moved on. But we still are not funded and we do not have money for advertisements. So whatever little our website makes goes into promotions and development of website and app.
Why don’t you respond to trolls?
Some people have made a business out of “trolling” us. They photoshop our posts and post them to get some fame. As a content creator, I respect people who create original content even if it is of the opposite polarity but for trolls I have no respect whatsoever. But do not expect any retaliation from us. Our post schedules are tight and our content quality is sacrosanct to us. We cannot afford to waste time in taking potshots at people who are experts at wasting time. We’d rather churn out an article attacking liberals and intelligentsia or unearthing media lies because that’s our core strength.
Final Words:
The Frustrated Indian in its three years of existence has just become like its favorite political party, The Bhartiya Janata Party. Us against All. We are repeatedly trolled, mocked, derided and enticed to engage in a verbal duel but we silently keep doing our work. The Frustrated Indian is on the Internet to strengthen the voice of the Right Wing and we are committed to our cause. We will never be afflicted to any political party but trust, we’ll never resort to political correctness or “neutrality” as they say. A car in neutral gear cannot move forward, to move it we need to shift it forward. We have shifted the gear knob and our car won’t stop.
Love, respect and best wishes,
Atul Kumar Mishra
On behalf of Team TFI