BlackBerry maybe struggling but its Messenger service is still quite popular with 60 million users sending 10 billion messages every day. That number is set to increase with BBM coming to both the iOS and Android platform. Chief executive officer for BlackBerry, Thorsten Heins, is quick to note that BBM users are highly engaged and half of them read their message within 20 seconds of receiving a BBM. This makes the service a good foundation for Channels, a mobile social network from the Canadian technology giant. TechVibes explains how this works by saying that the new service “allows brands and celebrities to have their BBM feeds followed by other BBM users, not unlike following a Twitter user or subscribing to the Facebook feed of someone a little too famous to be friends with.”
BlackBerry has stated that, “Today, BlackBerry takes BBM to the next level with BBM Channels, extending the BBM experience to brands, artists, businesses and communities, you will now be able to connect with individuals and groups in real time. Stay up to date on your favorite things. Receive timely updates and participate by commenting on, liking and sharing posts. Or choose to express yourself and create a channel of your own – and create, edit & publish in an instant.”
BlackBerry’ blog also goes through the many features of the new service:
“Create a channel – Create, edit and publish in an instant, and there are no limits to the number of followers you can have in your channel. Securely manage your channel from either a BlackBerry smartphone or the web.
Discover channels – BBM Channels includes a carousel that lets you discover new channels. You can share channel invites within a BBM chat, and people can be added or invited using the channel’s PIN or QR code.
View – View profiles for each BBM Channel you choose to follow.
Subscribe – Subscribing to a channel allows the channel owner to send you timely and relevant updates, giving the subscriber instant access to your news, deals, events or whatever you want to communicate. Subscribers can choose to receive notifications when new posts are available.
Participate – Participate and engage in conversations with your favorite people or communities by “Commenting” and “Liking” posts from channels you subscribe to. Channel owners have the option to directly chat one-on-one with a subscriber.
Monitor engagement – Easily use built-in measuring tools to assess and monitor follower engagement and interaction”
Source: TechVibes
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