Chennai: They were launched as a platform where one can show off one’s talent in acting or singing. However, social media buffs are angry that the colour of the apps is totally misused these days. Musical.ly, Smule, and Dubsmash are the apps we are talking about.
When these video-social network apps were introduced, they were primarily used for fun. Later, the apps became a springboard for aspiring actors and singers.
A couple of artistes from these platforms, including Rahul Kannan, Dharmik Lee, Arun, Sanjana and Mirunalini, became so popular that they emerged as actors in short and feature films. They had a huge fan following on social media as well.
Following this, comedy TV channels like Aditya started to allot small slots in-between their programmes to telecast the creative and comical videos made by their viewers using these apps. Through this, the talent of a lot of children was also brought to light as they imitate the reactions of legendary comedians like Vadivelu, Goundamani and Senthil.
As days rolled on, the apps started to evolve in terms of the content being posted on them. The platforms which showed creativity at its peak, now have become semi-pornographic sites, say social media freaks.
“Once the videos posted by users on these platforms were innovative and totally entertaining. It created a silent revolution by finding a path for budding actors and singers. But, today, most of the videos posted on Musical.ly and Dubsmash are erotic and intimate. It has transformed from the point of showing skill to showing body,” says Shabbeer Hussain, a popular meme creator.
He also showed some videos posted recently by some musers (as they are popularly known), and said, “These kind of people are those who seek negative publicity. They simply want attention and nothing else.”
According to Shabbeer, the usage of apps by former musers has gone down. “Earlier, they were passionate about the videos they created. But now, they have stopped making videos, as the current trend has created a bad image about these apps,” Shabbeer added.
When ‘News Today’ contacted one of the users who had made an imitation video of Minnale’s ‘Vaseegara’ song, with her boyfriend, she said, “It is all in the eyes of the people who watch such videos. If it is fine to imitate Vadivelu, it is equally right if I do Vaseegara.” She said even that is part of acting. “If actors can do that on screen, why not us?” she asked.
When both groups have points to justify their actions, the viewpoint of people who watch these videos is also significant. “Musical.ly’s official advertisement itself is like this,” said Baranidharan Ganesan, a Facebookite. He said it was the app that triggers musers to make videos of these kinds.
“We have started to compare these sites to porn sites. The content they post has become explicit,”Baranidaharan said.