The COVID induced lockdown(s) have increased time spent and number of users across social/content products. Will this sustain when people start getting out of their homes? Chinese apps offer some learnings. 1/n

As you see above, most social products saw a 15-25% in increase in time spent during peak lockdown (Feb). However, not all products were able to sustain that when things started coming back to normal (Mar/Apr). What did the products who sustained this do differently? 2/n

These products used the extra time they got from users to (1) Make them try new formats/ use cases (e.g. live shows, game streaming), (2) Create new user behaviours (e.g. login at a certain time to watch a live stream, nourish a virtual object) and ... 3/n

...(3) perform actions that entrench them further into the product (e.g. subscribe to more people, make them a creator). 4/n

In India we are seeing similar higher user time spent. However, Increased engagement wont sustain on its own! The product needs to make it happen - create new habits, introduce users to new use cases, or make them further invested in the product. 5/n

What about surge in users we are seeing because of COVID (both because of lower CPI & higher organic) - Is that sustainable? Getting these new users to complete your "core action" is probably the best bet. This post explains it best: https://medium.com/@sarahtavel/the-hierarchy-of-engagement-expanded-648329d60804 6/n

& Monetization? Ads are down. But, direct user revs (tipping, IAPs, paywalls) scaling well with engagement. e.g. Gaming revs up ~30% YoY in Q1 (vs. 5-10% historic growth). Excited to see Indian social/content Cos. trying these rev streams (& discovering that it is possible!) 7/n