It seems that Facebook is planning to merge its messaging services with WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger. This plan was first spotted by the New York Times. Apparently, this is the idea of Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook. The project has already started and it is believed to be completed by the end of this year. Let’s take a look at what this plan will involve.
What are the implications of this change?
If Facebook will make this change, then we will be able to exchange messages throughout all three apps. However, even though the applications will become linked in this way, they will still remain stand-alone apps.
Once the merger will be completed, a person who has an Instagram account, for example, will be able to send messages to someone who only has a WhatsApp account, without having an Instagram account as well. The same will work for other combinations between these three apps.
An improved messaging experience – but how private will it be?
At the moment, Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are three distinct platforms, which run independently and also compete against each other. The reason why Zuckerberg is trying to merge all three services is that he wants to increase the amount of time that users spend on them, while making them more useful at the same time.
“We’re working on making more of our messaging products end-to-end encrypted and considering ways to make it easier to reach friends and family across networks”, stated Facebook.
For now, the company doesn’t know exactly how the new system would work and it seems that there is a lot of debate and discussion about this subject. Many people have also become worried after hearing this announcement, as they don’t know what’s actually going to happen to their data and how private it really is, especially following Facebook’s recent scandal.
Frances might be just at the beginning of her career, but after attending a technical school, she has a fresh perspective on today’s technology. She contributes to the site with tech news.
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