Vocal Wants to Apply the Snapchat Model to Group Chats
Ephemeral messaging—sending messages where the content disappears after a certain period of time—has become a major trend in the tech world ever since the immense success of Snapchat. Vocal is a cool product that continues this trend by expanding the scale beyond a message between two people. Vocal is a mobile messaging app that supports chats between large groups of people. One user starts a live group chat and anyone else can join through the app or by following a link. Once a host closes a chat, Vocal deletes the text of the chat permanently, leaving no record of it. This ephemeral approach to communication is likely the product of an Internet age where companies record and save almost everything you do say online. Many people, especially in younger demographics, prefer the idea that their daily conversations won’t be around to haunt them well into their future. This philosophy provides users of apps such as Vocal with a feeling of freedom to say what they want without worrying over consequences. Embarrassing moments are less likely to become viral jokes on the Internet and job recruiters won’t comb through every single statement someone makes in a conversation, unlike what might happen if the conversation was on Facebook. Users who have had problems deleting data or messages from social networks in the past can call a remote tech support company if they want assistance. Read more »
