Viber, a leading messaging and mobile calling app with 664-million-plus users worldwide, has opened its latest social channel, Public Chats, to Africa and the Middle East.
Public Chats are live discussions that can be used by celebrities, public figures, social influencers, brands and organizations to reach local and regional audiences.
Viber users can follow, like and share these discussions with their community, CIOEastAfrica reported.
Conversations are multimedia and include text, photos, audio, video, stickers, web links and geolocalization.
Viber calls and text messages to all other Viber users are free on Wi-Fi or 3G.
Viber was founded in 2010 by Israeli-American Talmon Marco and Igor Magazinik, who were friends while serving in the Israeli Defense Force. Viber was initially launched for iPhone in competition with Skype.
Today, it’s one of the five most downloaded smartphone call and messaging apps, according to HighTechParkBelarus.
Bloomberg in 2012 dubbed Marco and Magazinik “the Skype killer of Belarus.” In 2014, Japanese e-commerce billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani and his e-commerce-and-Internet company Rakuten acquired Viber for $900 million.
Before Rakuten bought the messaging app, developers claimed that Viber would never become commercial — it had no monetization plan prior to 2013, according to messaging app news source AppMess.
Registered in Las Vegas and Cyprus, Viber is run from Israel with development centers in Belarus and Israel. Much of its development is outsourced to Belarus to lower labor costs.
Viber only began turning a profit in 2013 through user payments for Viber Out voice calling and the Viber graphical messaging “sticker store.” As a startup, it was funded by individual investors, described by Marco as “friends and family.”
Released in beta version in November 2014, Public Chats offer “a new kind of social experience” – tapping into live conversations from celebrities, personalities, brands and organizations, CIOEastAfrica reported. Mobile users can discover new communities, follow interactive chats in real time and share original content with friends and contacts.
Selected partners in key African markets such as Senegalese singe Youssou N’Dour joined Viber Public Chats for the regional launch. There are local conversations in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Egypt.
Users can follow them from the Viber Public Chats explore page.
“The Viber Public Chats channel will enable my fans to follow in real time my music and artistic activities; it will also represent an opportunity for me to engage in discussions designed to forge a peaceful and open world,” N’Dour said, according to CIOEastAfrica.
One of the first to join this new social channel is e-commerce platform Jumia, which opened Public Chats in Egypt and Nigeria.
“We are really excited with this partnership,” said Jumia CEO Jeremy Doutte. “As new African customers discover the Internet first through their mobile, we want to address them wherever they are. Viber is a mobile-first company with an outstanding reach in Africa…Joining forces will enable both Viber and Jumia to deliver quality content and good vibes to our users.”
Other pan-African partners include Brand Africa, a nonprofit movement to create a positive image of Africa and celebrate its diversity and competitiveness. Fashion influencer and stylist Louis Philippe de Gagoue is doing Public Chat along with Gareth
Pon, Africa’s top instagrammer.
“One of my many passions is to connect and grow the mobile photography community,” Pon said. “I see Viber Public Chats as a great way to share, learn, explore and spread creativity of photography through mobile. I look forward to growing my Viber community.”
Viber users can now follow South African actress Vanessa Haywood; Kenyan blogger Xtian Dela; Bella Naija lifestyle media in Nigeria; Filfan entertainment platform in Egypt; Live FM radio in Ghana; WIW Sport news portal in Senegal; and Ivorian Afropop musician Serge Beynaud.
Global media platforms on Viber Public Chats include Huffington Post, Mashable,
BuzzFeed and the BBC; the Prime Minister of India; Popstar Pixie Lott and actor Karolina Kurkova.
