Everybody wants and deserves to be heard, right? Such is the power of the human voice as it can express a gamut of emotions and connect with you on a personal level. So, what if there was a social media platform that facilitated human to human connection without language barriers? It could make things much simpler and straightforward,” began Soundarya Rajinikanth VSV, at the official launch of Hoote in ITC Grand Chola Hotel, on Monday.
Claiming to be India’s first voice-based social media platform, Hoote is co-founded by entrepreneurs Soundarya and Sunny Pokala. It’s a cloud-native, mobile-first, vernacular platform that offers an authentic social media experience enabled by cutting-edge cloud technologies to allow people around the world to use their voice and interact with others.
More than words
The inspiration for this app was born from a voice note sent by Thalaivar to his daughter. “In December 2020, when appa and I were discussing something over WhatsApp, there was a voice note from him buried under a series of texts. And, to hear his voice was something magical as it conveyed the message much faster with an impact. It made me wonder what it would be like for common people to hear the voice of their celebrities. I dreamt of this app to connect people from all walks of society. Sunny and I started working on it in February 2021 and here it is, an app made in India (namma Chennai) for Indians and people around the world,” she shared.
Attending an event in Delhi to collect his Dadasaheb Phalke Award did not stop Rajinikanth from giving a sweet surprise to the intimate gathering. The app was launched with the first Hoote from the actor himself, congratulating the team on how this platform could be a game-changer. Walking us through some of the app’s salient features, Sunny explained, “It will be the first multilingual audio platform to be enabled by AI. Hoote will be made available in 15 native Indian languages and 10 international languages to break communication barriers. Being multilingual, it allows anyone who wants to be heard, to express themselves in their unique voice and in the language of their choice.”
As someone who comes from the creative arts background, Soundarya elaborated on how the platform can be useful to discuss important issues as well as create powerful human relationships. “Having grown up listening to some of the most powerful and meaningful voices on and off-screen, I believe that voice is one of the most empowering and authentic ways to communicate and express one’s views and opinions. This way, people from tier-2 and -3 cities can use it confidently. We will be having content related to news, literature, sports, entertainment and more on the platform. Keeping the shrinking attention span and need for crisp content in mind, the time limit on Hoote is 60 seconds,” she noted.
An app for all
Privacy and safety seem to be of utmost importance to the team and they have strictly adhered to the standard guidelines as mandated by the government for social media platforms. “Ashwini Vaishnaw, our Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology, has shared a Hoote on the platform. We have a dedicated team that will pull down controversial quotes and keep a tab on any kind of harassment. Like other platforms, people can get verified upon following a set procedure. Since voice is the key mode of communication here, impersonation or hurting remarks will not be encouraged,” said Sunny.
Going forward, the duo wants the users to get familiar with the concept of voice-based audio apps and use it for the betterment of humankind. They will be incorporating new features down the line. “We will be adding more languages to the interface. Unlike other apps, Hoote can be heard and accessed on your digital watches. We will introduce subtitles in different languages for every Hoote. There will be customised playlists where you can select the Hootsters you want to hear every day with autoplay.
With privacy settings, you can decide who gets to listen to your Hoote. I’m also in talks with some production houses for audio teasers. This way, users will just be one Hoote away from all the latest updates. Right now, we’re not chasing numbers, competition or funds. We want to take this platform to a larger audience. The rest will follow,” shared Soundarya.
Hoote is available for free on Android and iOS.
The works
Open the Hoote app and select the desired language. Register using your mail ID or mobile number. Hoote will send you an OTP to complete registration. Set up a picture, profile name and bio. It will show a list of Hootsters who you may want to follow. To publish your first Hoote, click on the mic to record a live audio or upload a pre-recorded audio. It can be uploaded with a caption, photo and BGM. You can turn on or off the comment section.