Twitter has shown interest in acquiring Shots, an app created by RockLive and funded in part by Justin Bieber. The app is available to both iPhone and Android users.
Twitter's interest in the app may be credited to the fact that Shots now has over 3 million users which are mostly made up of women below the age of 24. Bieber is usually seen using the app to tweet photos to his followers in Twitter which has now reached over 53 million.
Unlike other selfie apps, Shots do not allow comments or publicly posted messages on the shared pictures. The move is to cut down or even prevent trolling on the net. Users can opt to use the app's direct messaging system instead.
Moreover, Shots allows users to take photos only through their front-facing camera and the app. This means that they cannot upload previously taken images as the app is designed to 'capture the moment.'
What Bieber liked most about Shots is its feature of not allowing comments to be given on a picture. Users may also find it more fun to look at other people through the app as compared to looking at pictures of sunsets and lunches that are common in other photo-sharing sites such as Instagram.
"I want a platform where my fans don't have to deal with this," said Bieber on the topic about commenting. Bieber feels annoyed by other platforms that allow its users to post homophobic slurs and hate messages. "I want to be part of this."
It is said that Bieber contributed the majority of the app's second funding round which had reached the amount of $1.1 million. Bieber had also provided feedback for the games that are developed by Shots Mobile and had promoted them through Twitter.
Apart from selfies, Shots also feature the user's name, location, captions and photo 'likes.' The app was launched in November 2013 and is designed to cater to those who take 'selfies.' It now has a daily log in of 41 percent among its 3 million users.
The news about Twitter's planned acquisition of the app came after the company's CFO Anthony Noto sent out a tweet by accident. Noto had intended to send the tweet privately to a Twitter colleague. However, the tweet was widely published and was quickly quoted by other users before Noto had eventually deleted the message. The tweet talked about buying something and the dates such as Dec. 15 and 16 are also mentioned.
Twitter has yet to confirm its plans and has evaded giving further comments on the matter.
