Encouraging entertainment  while honing acting skills of global enthusiasts 

KATHMANDU, July25: Social media usage has dramatically risen across the world. The majority of the people residing in urban areas of Nepal are highly acquainted with the use of social networking sites. This trend of social media usage, as a source for news consumption or entertainment is steadily increasing, and not showing signs of slowing down. While there have been several debates accusing social medias of making people anti-social, there are various examples which make it evident that its benefits to the mankind clearly outweigh the disadvantages. Some of the studies have even shown that the people who use social media regularly are active and smart. 

Because of its interesting features, and the easy-to-use structure, Facebook has become the most common social networking site in the Nepalese household. Similarly, it is very hard to find netizens without an Instagram account. Twitter is still considered as ‘only-for-professionals’ site in Nepal. With the expanding access of the internet and smart phones, many other equally influential apps have been introduced. One of such app is Musical.ly. The usage of musical.ly has heightened tremendously in recent times, across the globe. 

Musical.ly is a social networking app which allows one to create short lip-syncing and dancing videos to popular songs, dialogues from movies and what not. Researches show that more than 60% of the musical.ly users are aged between 13 and 24. This plainly justifies the obsession of the teens towards the app. It was initially released on August 2014, as an online self-learning platform. However, the minimal engagements led the developers to transform the app into an entertainment site, making the teenagers of the US its major target. The app is now popular all over the world including Nepal. 

There are three categories of people on internet. First, the ones that enjoy making and uploading Musical.ly videos. Second, the ones who watch the videos but do not try on their own and even if they do, they will never tell you about it. And, the third type is the ones that cannot stand Musical.ly videos and never miss a chance to rant on it. If you are someone who regularly uses social media but do not know about musical.ly, you are considered an internet noob because let’s just face it, the contents of the app is all over the internet and you cannot avoid its existence even if you want to.

People claim that Musical.ly is the easiest medium to fame. However, ‘Musers’ (a term given for Musical.ly users) have their own stories to tell. “It has been a year since I started making Musical.ly videos. My followers hiked all of a sudden when one of my videos went viral on the internet. Most of my followers are from Nepal, India, UAE, Australia, and the U.S. Because of my musical.ly status, a lot of opportunities knocked on my door. But, as of now, I am prioritizing on my studies. 

Although I’m a nurse by profession, I have a knack for acting and I will definitely be working on some good projects in the future,” shared Reshma Ghimire, who is believed to be the first Nepali muser to get crowned on musical.ly. Crowning is similar to getting your account verified on Twitter or Instagram. 

Reshma has a huge #RaceFam (a name she has given to her fan base) of over 404k musers. “Wherever I am today, it is all because of the love, support and encouragement that my fans shower on me. I cannot deny that there are people who keep on giving heart-wrenching statements too. But, I am equally grateful to each one of them”, she further added. 

Musical.ly is often dubbed as a ‘girls only’ app because of its wide popularity among teenage girls. However, there are some male musers too who have broken this notion. “Through my musical.ly videos, I try to portray true love, pain of staying away from home, my parents’ struggle to meet the needs and demands of their children, LGBT rights, and extra marital affairs. People love unusual content and I try my best to deliver it to them” said Subham shrestha, also known as Miracle

 He initially started creating Musical.ly videos to avoid and calm down his anxiety in the foreign land. People loved his conceptual acting, and didn’t him long to shoot to fame. Similarly, Manjil Basnet, a known name in Nepali musical.ly community, shared that he had been making musical.ly videos on songs and dialogues since nine months. “I try to interact with my fans in my free time and watch their duets as well”, he added. 

Musical.ly in Nepal has become a huge social platform where the users connect and network with each other. It has become a place where people with acting interests and abilities hone their skills through regular practice with available songs and dialogues. From the students to the well-established actors, everyone is found on musical.ly. 

Musical.ly engagement has also surfaced as a matter of concern at places. Teenagers are found abandoning their work and studies to make Musical.ly videos. “I use Musical.ly to vent down my emotions. Musical.ly is actually a great platform to polish your skills, but you should be well aware about your priorities as well. One should not be too engaged making videos in an extent that it hampers their work and study”, an aspiring Muser, Abisha Thapa shared.