Cape Town – Whether it’s watching a movie, doing a quiz or spending time with friends, technology is making virtual socialising easier for many South Africans as chat and social media apps are now in high demand.
Since lockdown, an obscure app like Houseparty has seen its average weekly downloads soar from 130 000 to more than two million. It allows up to eight users to video chat, as well as offering games like charades, and quizzes. Netflix Party allows users to link up from home for movie nights and binge-series parties.
Chanel Retief said: “Since the lockdown, I went from seeing my friends regularly to not seeing them at all. But with Houseparty, it felt a little less distant and a lot more fun.”
Retief, though, has also struggled with the app’s glitches, adding that “the more people you have in the ‘house’, the slower the connection and the video becomes fuzzy”. Other users have complained that the app has led to their other accounts, like Netflix and Spotify, being hacked.
Radio stations and television channels are also trying to entertain their audiences with virtual parties like Channel O’s Lockdown House Party, which broadcasts on Fridays and Saturdays.
“With plans to relaunch Channel O in the near future, we are excited about the possible opportunities to live-stream events on both linear and DStv digital platforms,” said Philly Kubheka, M-Net’s head of local
entertainment.
“This is all in an effort to ensure that our viewers can access our music content everywhere and anywhere. The Channel O Lockdown House Party was received well by our viewers, and social media was abuzz with excitement as well.”
Good Hope FM now broadcasts the Quarantine Virtual Party on Saturdays with Dr Jules and Jason Spikes.
“Good Hope FM has always strived to speak to the listeners in a way that connects them to their family, their friends, their community, their country and the world.
“With the lockdown in effect, the station realised there was an opportunity to engage them through their screens, and not just through the radio, to give them a sense of being within a greater community while remaining indoors and safe,” said station marketing manager Meegan Kieffer.
The station’s event reached over 80 000 users on Facebook, with South Africans abroad streaming it as part of birthday celebrations.
Local comedian Jon Keevy, who has hosted a pub quiz at the Courtyard Playhouse since 2018, has taken the event online, broadcasting on Wednesday nights on the game-streaming platform, Twitch.
“The biggest appeal of Twitch to me was how easy it was to set up and share a simple link to the live stream,” Keevy said. “I didn’t consider the relative payment models of the platforms because the simplest was to get donations via Snapscan.
“To scale beyond SA, I’ll have to reconsider YouTube, but I expect the best practice is to be on all the platforms with tailored content.”
Without spacial limitations, a benefit to broadcasting online had been an increased audience and participants, Keevy added.