Dark social is a reality in India.

Young people here love the power that comes with digital connectivity—but they are also fully aware of the downside of the Internet’s accessibility to everyone around them. With images, posts and comments saved permanently, the digital world never forgets a thing.

Indian youth today strongly appreciate transient networks like Snapchat that have the ability to purge after a period of time.

They also gravitate toward private platforms like messengers, email or chat, because they don’t want all of their photos and media becoming public. Their online identities are meticulously carved out, so careful vetting before putting something out on social media is important. It’s no surprise that much of their conversation and content sharing happens privately so they can maintain more control over their public online identities.

58% of Indian youth agree that some things on their social timelines are more private and risqué than others, and for that reason cannot be shared with everyone.

Almost two-thirds want their comments, images and posts to disappear after 24 hours – unless they choose to save them.

These insights are part of The Many Me Project, a six-month interactive investigation of 11,000 people ages 13 to 25 across India.