This is revolution in the making for a platform that’s closer to a billion users on planet. There are no official numbers but extrapolated from the grwoth trajectory.
The newer “beta” of Android has all the elements in place for monetisation strategies. They have introduced “TonCoin” which is some format of “crypto-currency” and monetises the channels through ad-placements (after they cross the 1000+ subscribers mark). There are several ways to place advertisements in the channels (a proper “ad-market”) and pay through Ton-Coin. In addition, they have introduced in-app payment currency called as “Telegram-Stars”. Going forward, Stars will be required to pay for all interactions happening inside the platform.
What users (and mainstream media “tech-folks” miss) is the revolutionary “mini-apps” that run on Telegram. Basically, they are like the “mini-programs” that run in Telegram itself and connect to “external-services”. In effect, Telegram works as a “super-OS” within the confines of the mobile operating system itself and there’s an app-store forming right in front of us. This, would be, “compliant” with the existing stores and the in-app payments compliant with “Apple and Google” stores, respectively.
Consider this:
You can “switch between mini-apps” through a brand-new UI. I haven’t checked it but sharing the screenshots here.
Something more:
This is just a concept bot (to demonstrate in-app payments) within the Telegram system itself. The implications are huge. Anyone, technically, can launch a mini-store front, powered by the in-app currency. Technically, you don’t need to launch an application. Telegram can provide complete functionality of the applications (say for grocery delivery) through these “mini-apps”; including real-time location and “proximity-alerts”.
More importantly, for the creators, you can lock posts through in-app payment mechanisms:
There’s no way around this- no “hacks” etc. Currently, this is only on the test server (I haven’t checked it myself though).
A nice animation of the mini-apps is here.
Telegram has announced several changes to “stories” and global improvements in the hash-tags functional search. It is incorporating some features from Instagram (which is focused on virality) and Tik-Tok; but instead pushing creators to charge for the content instead of paying money to them. This puts the onus on them to grow their userbase organically.
I use and prefer Telegram for this simple reason- it avoids the hassle of algorithms and content isn’t geared towards the negative implications for their user-base. There have been numerous attacks on the platform with claims of this being a “Russian application” but mainstream social media is a creation of the US intelligence agencies and no one bats an eyelid there. I don’t understand the hypocrisy around it. When I use a US-based platform, it doesn’t gurantee my “personal-freedom”; instead, it exposes me to extreme vile/negative posts and influences. Till the time I have something as useful and innovative as Telegram, made in Bharat, I would continue to use Telegram.
RadOncNotes 