In this day and age of keyboard warriors, social media darlings, boycotts and whatnot, it is important to have options. And when one platform disappoints, it is often time to shift your commentary to another. The rift with China may have given new impetus for people to 'make in India', but most would agree that there are some things better left un-made. Or at the least, it is best to wait until one has a viable creation that does not 'rip-off' its inspiration.
Take Tooter for example - a "swadeshi social network" that urges people to keep themselves abreast of all things Indian. "Welcome to Swadeshi Andolan 2.0," their website signup page greets. And apart from the conch shell replacing the iconic blue bird of Twitter's logo - not much is different about the site. From the name to the colour scheme - it was, as one Google Play Store review put it, a "blatant copy of another app". And while it would seem that several leaders including Prime Minister Modi have verified accounts on the handle, their Toots (the app specifies that that's what we're supposed to call posts) appear to be drawn from the users' Twitter feed and copied.
"This is an useless app. If I could I would've given it negative rating but sadly I can't. Starting a new app is not a bad thing but if y'all gonna start an app by ripping of one of the most famous apps on this planet then your version has to be at least at par with it. This sadly is not," read another review.
Rival Twitter, at least thus far, is not taking the app seriously. On Wednesday a new meme format came to the fore with people comparing the two apps and finding it lacking. Soon Twitter vs Tooter memes were trending - with people posting comparative pictures where one was supposed to be an imitation of the other.
From comparing Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi to Kangana Ranaut as Manikarnika to comparing Roger Federer and Arbaaz Khan - nothing it would seem was to be spared. And while this has of course angered a few fans online, netizens for the most part are cracking up. At this very moment, the existence of Tooter does not seem to be inspiring a lot of confidence.
Take a look:
