India’s first audio-only social media app fireside gets Indians talking again

Completely enriching and transforming your social media experience, India’s first audio-only social media app fireside has made its debut in the country to bring back intimacy and emotions in your conversations. The first-of-its-kind user-friendly platform engages you into meaningful talks and thought-sharing with your folks in a complete audio format, bringing a paradigm shift to the way Indians converse online. As easy as a child’s play, fireside promises to protect the intimacy of your voice conversations while eliminating the baggage of screen fatigue.

"The pandemic has imbued uncertainty and isolation, leaving people craving for human interaction. fireside enables users to listen to the voice of their loved ones by bridging emotional gaps, leaving them emotionally touched and connected.  With a keen focus on building rich communities, fireside aims to cater to the Indian market with clubs and groups that are tailored to suit local needs and sensibilities,” says Sumit Ghosh, CEO & Co-Founder, fireside.  

While using fireside, you can do regular work, play video games, finish household chores, workout, take a shower or create visual art and the app will ensure that your voice is heard. Making digital experiences more intimate, fireside amalgamates entertainment and socialisation with a personal voice touch. The app offers a common virtual location (room) with common shared topics or interests so that like-minded people can come together for long and meaningful conversations.

Fireside creates safer space for communities, breaks barriers, nurtures creativity, gives platform to every voice, builds connection and notably, it makes Indians to get talking. It comes with the founders’ vision of ensuring the voice of every Indian is heard by creating a space for communities to come together and discuss their issues and interests.  “To mirror the diversity of the country like ours, there needs to be an egalitarian social platform that is inclusive of folks who can barely read and write. With fireside, even those who are minimally literate, can open their ideas up for the world to hear,” says Aditya Kothari, co-founder, fireside.

Enabling social discovery by connecting people through sound, fireside saves time and connects people easily.  The nature of the sessions on the platform can range from discussions, debates, educational talks, helplines, post-match sports reviews, quizzes, or even a leisurely banter among friends in big cities, small towns, or even villages. With the facility to have open and closed rooms, the scale and significance of a particular discussion can vary as per the users’ needs. 

The concept of audio-based fireside is backed by research of scholars and industry experts and is being touted as the next big leap in online human conversational interaction. Users can club their niche interests and chat about anything to stay up to date. They can also listen and learn as a member of the audience during audio sessions. From workshops to debates, from fan fiction to candid confessions, this platform aims to be an outlet for whoever wishes to speak and to listen. The pandemic has also made people realise the significance of quick and constant engagement to amplify urgent messages and fireside suits the needs perfectly. “The need of the hour is a virtual space which dispenses information on Covid, and amplifies SOS requests. To support this, we have 24X7 Covid helpline rooms on fireside where folks can drop in and relay their requests and questions”, concludes Sumit.

Fireside is available on both the platforms, iOS & Android.