Times Internet plans to make iTimes.com second major brand

Times Internet, which has launched a social networking site called iTimes.com, is planning to make it a platform for user generated content and sharing stuff

Times Internet, which owns Indiatimes.com, has recently forayed into the social networking space by launching a site called www.iTimes.com.

Although the site has regular networking features like adding or searching for friends, messaging, writing testimonials and communities, it is trying to keep itself different from Orkut and Facebook.

Mohit Hira, director, Indiatimes.com, says, “We have conducted research before launching iTimes.com. The research indicated that users find popular social networking site Facebook.com complicated and American oriented. People want a networking site which has a simple user interface and which can be customised. The study also figured out that users demand an integrated site where they can blog, use email and network with friends as well.”

iTimes.com allows users to create an email ID and the email service of iTimes.com is separate from the Indiatimes.com mail service. This implies that users registered with Indiatimes.com need to create a different username to use iTimes.com. It seems that Times Internet has plans to create a separate user base for its networking site, which will be monetised later on.

According to Hira, “We want to make iTimes.com the second major brand after Indiatimes.com, which will be focused on user generated content and sharing stuff. We are positioning it as a site which provides an integrated platform for social networking, e-mail and blogging.”

Although iTimes.com is allowing users to create and import blogs on the site, it is following the trend of Facebook by offering small applications such as a clock and newsfeeds from CNN.com and IBNLive.com, which users can add to their profile pages. A gaming section has also been made available on the site, which is powered by Games2Win. Facebook does not offer blogs and email on its site.

There are no plans to launch a huge advertising campaign to promote the site, but online marketing and below the line activities will be used to spread the word. The site will be monetised through advertising, which will be opened up later once the site gains traction.

Recently, MySpace.com, another popular networking site based in the US, launched a beta version of its Indian site, called www.in.myspace.com, which has a special community for Indians. It seems that MySpace.com might use local content to counter the rising popularity of Facebook and Orkut in India.