![]() But it’s also about differentiating itself from the mass of other messaging services out there. ![]() It’s about using popular people to bring more engagement to Viber, and more new users to the platform. As a beta product we want to have greater control at first.”įor Viber, the motivation for doing this is two-fold. “Our intention is to open the service more after it is rolled out. Right now, there is no option for everyone to enable their streams to become part of the public mix but those who feel their chats are Public Chat-worthy can email and “We’ll take a look at it,” he says. “Generally we are looking for those who can create interesting chats - not just celebs but others like taxi drivers or bloggers, people whose conversations we feel would be interesting.” And, presumably, okay with having their conversations, or a part of them, made public for 209 million people to see. “We spoke with a bunch of people and some offered to participate,” he said. Marco would not comment directly on whether any of Public Chats’ early adopters are getting paid to be on the service but the process at least made it sound like some of them were signing up as another way of extending their social media reach to those who opt to use Viber as their communications platform of choice. You select the Public Chats bar from the main menu, then the “compass” icon to find a list of available Public Chats to follow, then you follow them. Speaking while in New York for one of the two events that Viber organised to announce this news (in NYC and London), Marco tells me that it’s been optimised first for Android devices but will work on other native Viber apps, versions 5.0 or higher. Public Chats is launching with a list of “global celebrities” signed up, including Perez Hilton, YouTube sensation Tyler Oakley, singer-songwriter Pixie Lott, international DJ Paul van Dyk, digital fashion innovators Next Model Management, European football channel COPA90. ![]() It gives Viber, which was acquired by Japan’s Rakuten earlier this year for $900 million, a little social media spin, and at the same time helps differentiate it from the rest of the crowded messaging app pack, which is led by the likes of Facebook (Messenger: 500m users WhatsApp: 600m) but also includes a number of other very popular apps like WeChat (600m users) Line and many more. (And then, those comments will become a part of the public stream.) Users will only be able to jump in and talk in Public Chats if the account in question is in their contacts. Public Chats will see the introduction of live conversation streams - from celebrities, or as CEO Talmon Marco told me, other interesting people “like taxi drivers!” - that will be open for any follower to see, but not necessarily participate in. But today Viber, the messaging app with 209 million users, is taking a different approach: it is launching Public Chats, giving users a way of using its direct messaging and voice services app to broadcast to the world at large. A lot of messaging apps have been highlighting how their services are a great way for people to directly communicate with their friends directly, in opposition to the bare-all nature of social networks like Facebook.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |