Twitter taking on WhatsApp all the way and planning a messaging app? That question may not get a direct answer now, but it appears Twitter is definitely planning to launch a feature within its main micro messaging site, which is expected to be an encrypted one-to-one chat provision soon.
This is aimed at accommodating users on Twitter to send any secret message to other users within the platform without having to go out and use other apps for the purpose.
The recent episode with Facebook on the data privacy issue has set practically all such platforms thinking on this aspect of privacy of the users on their respective platforms. It is true that Facebook even now does not have any encryption feature on its site and what one posts on the wall even if of a personal nature can be read by others in the group.
WhatsApp, also a Facebook company does offer a complete private window for exchange of messages between individuals and within a closed group and they are all end-to-end encrypted. In addition, WhatsApp also offers voice and video calls.
This move by Twitter is expected help it compete directly with Facebook and WhatsApp and may even, some point, gain an edge over them.
Twitter appears to be moving towards offering many of these on its website except the voice calls, at least for now. The beginning may be made with the secret window for messaging between two contacts on Twitter. Going forward, it is very likely that Twitter may start a messaging service very much like WhatsApp, which might run independently.
There is no public announcement yet, directly from Twitter on the secret messaging feature, but a Tweet by the Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, where he uses an emoji that depicts keeping a secret does give some indication in this direction.