Social media giant Facebook, that has recently hit the news with its acquisition of mobile messaging service WhatsApp, has announced its intention to launch a new, stand-alone mobile application that will allow its users to interact with each other without the need of revealing their identity. The information about the new app was revealed by two people close to the matter, not authorized to do so, the New York Times reports.
The new app, expected to be launched in the next few days, is said to reveal a completely different approach to privacy and online identity. The thing that set Facebook aside from the rest of the social networks was that its users were real persons, not anonymous ones hidden behind aliases, pseudonyms and random names, like in case of its competitors. This is still the case at Facebook.com, which has about 1.3 billion accounts.
According to the available information, the project is led by Facebook product manager Josh Miller, who has joined the company when it took over Branch, an online discussion group service. The teal led by Miller has been working on the new product for about a year. The idea behind the new app is to allow users discuss topics that they might feel restrained to discuss under their real name.
Facebook has chosen not to comment about the new application. It is also unclear how Facebook plans to protect the users of the new app from trolls, cyber-bullies and spammers, that could exploit the anonymity of the new service.
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Mark Zuckerberg, the owner of the social media giant Facebook, has recognized the importance and utility of offering users ways to interact in anonymity. This year he has promised to allow developers to incorporate anonymous login features into third party apps, offering users the possibility to try them out without offering too much information about their real identity.