India, Sept. 30 -- Every couple of years, a "Made In India" social media platform or a trendy new app takes centre stage and grabs the limelight. Downloads surge overnight, charts are topped, and headlines proclaim the arrival of a homegrown alternative to global tech giants.

From Moj during the post-Chinese app ban frenzytoKooin the "Twitter versus India" standoff, and fromJio trying its hand at building a Zoom clonewith JioMeet toZoho-backed Arattai this week, multiple apps have ridden this digital 'swadeshi' sentiment.

Yet once the early fervour dies, the true test comes in the form of user retention, product quality, network effects and trust. This is where many of these apps struggle to retain users, slowly slipping out of conversa...