[Jay Wright2]

It gets harder and harder to support this company. A great feature of BBM that simply has gone to waste. Barely supported smh

Posted via CB10

It's really sad. I share your same sentiments. I'm barely holding on. But I'm still rooting for BlackBerry. Even though it's becoming INCREASINGLY hard to now.

The BlackBerry Guy

[Jay Wright2]

I agree... I have a channel as well... at first I was very religious to update, but with lack of features such as videos and limited character and other features that others may have, I've gotten to the point of maybe updating once or twice every month if I'm lucky. I've gone to IG as it's a lot easier to use and can update and edit my own posts.

Posted via CB10

Exactly!!

The BlackBerry Guy

[Jay Wright2]

Channels never really had a chance. It was a new social network limited to BBM users - which, in the western world, had been on the decline for years and was limited to BB phones (you couldn't even use it from the web!) which had also been on the decline for years - and it had no new compelling features to offer - in fact, it was behind most other social media in features and certainly in integration.

Then, they wanted to monetize it from the get-go. That's not how you grow a social media platform.

The real value of any social media platform is the number of active users. If the people you care about aren't using it, then you probably won't use it either, and that's the issue any new platform faces - which is why they have to have unique selling points and give everything away for free at the beginning.

I get the impression that Channels was initially conceived around 2010-11 when Facebook was all over the media with its valuations, and folks at BB thought they'd just cash in too, but I'm not sure that they saw past the potential for money and really understood what drew users in the first place. BBM originally drew in consumers in big numbers because they didn't want to have to pay for SMS texts but wanted to communicate via text-based comms. In other words, BBM then offered something that many people found value in. By 2013-14, Channels didn't really add any value.

Troy, I wish you weren't.. but you ARE spot on, once again. Sad BUT true.

The BlackBerry Guy

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

I have an autism channel and try to post regularly about real things that I find important. I have connected with real people and have had some great discussions. I have found my channel therapeutic in a way even. I think there's promise for this type of thing but at this point I'm not sure.

Posted via CB10

I still stay in contact we a few folks on an old binary news group.... but I'm pretty sure that is a thing of the past.

The thing with Channel is some that I followed.... people, groups or companies, I also followed via other social media. And while Channels was different, it wasn't better.... in fact it was worse. In most all cases it seemed like their post to Channels was an after taught, content was always last to show up in Channels and it was many time it wasn't all the pictures or all the posts. And it didn't last long... some had a Channel for awhile, but then either killed it or just stopped posting.

I do wonder if in some markets where BBM might have still be strong at that time... if maybe it was a limited success as a regional tool?

[Tre Lawrence]

Comments like that are kind of trollish. IMHO

You find a tongue-in-cheek reference to BBRY's official marketing catchphrase off-putting?

[anon(6038817)]

I deleted 5 of my six BBM channels today. I realized they were pretty pointless. Might delete my last one, too. Still thinking about it.

[David Tyler]

Pin please bruh....

"All hot women add me up!"

[David Tyler]

Then, they wanted to monetize it from the get-go. That's not how you grow a social media platform.

You're dead right about that -- but it seems like the way one actually DOES "grow a social media platform" is to offer some kind of service "for free;" viz., either in return for putting up with non-stop advertising, providing information to sell to advertisers, or both. I'm trying to think of a social media counter-example, and I got nothin'... As a result, I've no idea how BBM Channels or anyone else gets out of the box of expectations built by Facebook, et al.

Of course, the above goes for BBM messaging, as well -- I don't see anything wrong with paying for services, so I have a privacy subscription and also pay for BBM Protected for correspondence with my work team; there are a LOT of people out there, however, who think features like those ought to be "free."

As with nearly everything BlackBerry, marketing would help, I suppose... Every person I've gotten to give BBM a try has appreciated the fact that they don't have to share a mobile number or email address to connect with people, but that's because I've told them -- it certainly wasn't something they already knew.

[TgeekB]

This is the type of topic that could have made it successful. Too bad they are overshadowed by junk and a non-commitment to update and improve the app.

[BerrySoul]

Hey check out my awesome channel in BBM!!

  

[mavsguy842]

BlackBerry never finish anything. Playbook OS, BB10, BlackBerry World, BBM Music, BBM Channels, BlackBerry Experience Suite, launching the Priv. I'm sure there are plenty more, but it's a chronic problem.

[BCITMike]

Looks like they should sell channels to Ashley Madison.

Posted via CB10

[z10Jobe]

You find a tongue-in-cheek reference to BBRY's official marketing catchphrase off-putting?

Does BlackBerry really still use this phrase?
Does Apple still tell their customers that they are holding their phones wrong? Does Apple still say that they won't build a phone larger than 4 inches?

If the answer to any of these is 'no', then you shouldn't be referring to any of them in the present tense.

Posted via CB10

[TgeekB]

Does BlackBerry really still use this phrase?

Posted via CB10

No, but some Crackberrians do. I think that's the point. Nothing to take too serious.

[1REDRUM]

There is no BBM team anymore. They gave up rather than adding features such as cross platform video etc. Very sad.

Posted via CB10

[BerryRipe]

I've complained about this problem for awhile now. I deleted my channel a while ago, I am only subscribed to 4 channels as of now but I used to follow Techno Buffalo but left due to the pin problem.

I'm in agreement to cut-off stickers and channels from BBM.

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17

[Bla1ze]

I've complained about this problem for awhile now. I deleted my channel a while ago, I am only subscribed to 4 channels as of now but I used to follow Techno Buffalo but left due to the pin problem.

I'm in agreement to cut-off stickers and channels from BBM.

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17

You want to remove stickers? YOU'VE GONE TOO FAR!! lol

[anon(153966)]

If I could disable BBM Channels, and even BBM, I would. No one really communicates with me via BBM, anyway.

And STICKERS, well, 'nough said...

[Troy Tiscareno]

Comments like that are kind of trollish. IMHO

They were obviously meant to be humorous. If you have a problem with such posts, you should probably have the problem with the people who post exactly those kinds of things but are dead serious about what they're saying. In my case, the "LOL" and the smiley face are a pretty good indication that I wasn't intending to do anything but lighten the mood a bit.

[thurask]

They have a point. I had to change my channel to Canada only to stop the PINs. But I've grown tired of it. Haven't regularly updated it in months.

RedBerry Passport /10.3.2.2876 / Telus

I think CrackBerry should be similarly regulated, for the same reason.

[pat-wallace]

I think it's really popular for business use, and I expect to see some updates. Multiple users via Web is handy too imo.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[sebstarr]

I use bbm as my main communication tool and used bbm meetings for my business.

Bbm meetings is now going bye bye and that is being executed terribly

Channels I loved it! have over 14 000 subscribers on my channel which at the beginning had some really great meaningful exchanges now I block all comments and just post occasionally given spam and lack of updates

Bbm if it doesn't soon include cross platform video and improve iOS experience will also likely fade away into distant memory as evidenced by my contacts who are slowly switching away as a response to the slightest hiccup

BlackBerry step up your bbm game!

If not bbm will likely find a meager existence as an enterprise secure communication tool rolled into ad hoc kinda stuff in the very near future!

[Doggerz]

My wife and I used to use video chat on BBM for everything. Was it necessary to have video? No. But it worked really well. We just got in th habit of pressing the video icon instead of the speaker. In fact we BBM ed each other almost exclusively compared to phone call.

Now that she got her Note 5 I miss that feature a lot. I'm not sure if any other app works as well as BBM Video to video. It's a shame they didn't go cross platform or even Android to Android. They did it well but I guess whoever was developing the app got canned along with everyone else.

Z30STA100-5 / 10.3.2.2876 / T-Mobile USA

[eldricho]

They were obviously meant to be humorous. If you have a problem with such posts, you should probably have the problem with the people who post exactly those kinds of things but are dead serious about what they're saying. In my case, the "LOL" and the smiley face are a pretty good indication that I wasn't intending to do anything but lighten the mood a bit.

Atleast you didn't state that 'Amateur hour is over' lol

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[bakron1]

I think the BBM Channels had good intent when they started them, but the popular social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have embedded themselves into the popular culture so this should have been expected. Just my two cents.