By the end of 2013, Don Anderson, FleishmanHillard SVP and Director for Regional Strategic Digital Integration for Asia Pacific shared his insights about the seemingly looming demise of Facebook. While Facebook’s demise isn’t happening anytime soon, Facebook is undergoing an evolution based on its users’ behavior. Now, Facebook forces users to install the Messenger app in order to read and manage private and group messages.
The trend of focusing on private messaging isn’t only limited to Facebook. Based on the 2014 Internet Trends Report, there is a huge increase in using private messaging app such as WeChat, WhatsApp, and Viber to communicate with friends and family. 
Veems, a unique photo sharing app available on Android and iOS, is also experiencing the same trend. Its founder, Iddo Goren, noticed users have been exchanging information such as their Skype handles, Facebook profiles, and even their mobile phone numbers. In order to keep conversations within the app, Veems released an update that allows users to send a private message. Initially, the private message only allows you to send a written message. No images and sounds are attached.
However, two weeks ago, another update was released. Users can now send a “private Veem”. If you want to send a personal photo along with a four-second sound, have the option to send it directly to your friend or the person you’re following. You’re no longer limited to sharing your content publicly.
While encouraging private conversations is expected in future updates, users can still enjoy the public and collaborative features. One of the unique features of Veems is to Revoice other people’s content. This simply means that you can share an image from another user, add your own voice (dub a funny photo, for example), and share it with your followers. Your followers can also add their own unique sound to the image that has been Revoiced.
Giancarlo Viterbo is a Filipino Technology Journalist, blogger and Editor of gadgetpilipinas.net, He is also a Geek, Dad and a Husband. He knows a lot about washing the dishes, doing some errands and following instructions from his boss on his day job. Follow him on twitter: @gianviterbo and @gadgetpilipinas.
