The Sphere chat app is a group messaging service with a focus on the group aspects of chats.
Then, on Thursday, Twitter said that it had purchased Sphere, a London-based startup chat app.
The goal, according to the statement, is to create a community where everyone feels welcome and can readily engage in discourse.
Nick D’Aloisio and Tomas Halgas created the company.The former is a serial digital entrepreneur who, at the age of 17, sold his news app Summly to Yahoo for $30 million.
After purportedly making an attempt to purchase audio platform Clubhouse, the social network giant launched audio feature Spaces in May.
It has also begun to test new capabilities in order to combat online abuse and enhance online safety.
“Watching and admiring Twitter’s growing investment in community-building with the release of Communities, Spaces, and features that promote safety,” the Sphere team wrote in a blog post.
“We were even more impressed by how seriously they are pursuing interest-based community and how much they believe in its potential impact when we met the team,” it stated.
“Today’s announcement means we have the opportunity to take what we’ve learned at Sphere and bring our efforts to a whole new level. While we’ll be winding down our standalone product next month, we’re excited for our team of 20 to continue onwards within the communities, direct messages, and creator’s initiatives at Twitter. We can’t think of a better home for this work and are beyond excited to get started,’’ the post added.
The company’s decision to acquire Sphere comes as it ramps up measures to expand its product offerings to compete with other social media platforms.
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