The company’s preference for Nigeria could not be unconnected to the massive subscription it enjoys in Nigeria. It is estimated that well over 7 million Nigerians are on twitter.
Social messaging platform, Twitter, on Monday added a voice messaging feature to its platform, selecting Nigeria and Turkey as first two countries to experiment it before taking it round
The company’s preference for Nigeria could not be unconnected to the massive subscription it enjoys in Nigeria. It is estimated that well over 7million Nigerians are on twitter.
The new feature allows users a limit of 140 seconds for each recording.
Explaining why it opted for the new feature, Twitter said that there’s a lot that can be left unsaid or un-interpreted using text, and, so with the voice features it hopes to create a more human experience for listeners and story tellers alike.
A statement from Twitter reads, “We want to encourage everyone to start private conversations about what matters to them using voice messages. We are looking forward to seeing how our feature is used in these two countries and receiving the feedback on this experiment.
“Twitter is where you go to talk about what’s happening. We are constantly listening to what people who use Twitter want and testing new features to make it even easier for them to have conversations anywhere on our service, including Direct Messages (DMs).
“To make chatting in DMs more convenient, we are bringing voice messages to DMs. This experiment is rolling out in Turkey and Nigeria from today. This will give people more ways to express themselves clearly and quickly, whether they’re on the move, or there’s just too much to type.
“For a hands-free experience, in a DM conversation, account holders can tap the new voice recording icon once to begin recording. Tap the stop icon when completed and people will have the option to listen to their recording before sending or deleting it. Alternatively, they can also quickly send by holding down the voice recording icon and swiping up to send immediately after they’re done talking.”
On April 12, Twitter had however shunned Nigeria by opening its Africa Operation Headquarters in Ghana.
The Twitter Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, Jack Dorsey, had stated that “Twitter is now present on the continent. Thank you Ghana, and Nana Akufo Addo.”
“The choice of Ghana as Headquarters for Twitter’s Africa operations is excellent news. The government and Ghana welcome very much this announcement and the confidence reposed in our country,” Ghana’s President, Nana Akufo-Addo had also tweeted.
In a release, Twitter had reinstated that its mission is to serve the public conversation, and it’s essential, for the world and for Twitter, to increase the number of people who feel comfortable participating in it.
“As a champion for democracy, Ghana is a supporter of free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet, of which Twitter is also an advocate. Furthermore, Ghana’s recent appointment to host The Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area aligns with our overarching goal to establish a presence in the region that will support our efforts to improve and tailor our service across Africa,” the organisation had said.
