Facebook had acquired WhatsApp in the latter half of 2014 and since then it has made sure that the already popular messaging platform does not get in the way of its own messaging platform ‘Facebook Messenger’. Every quarter, Facebook releases a fancy new update for its Messenger so as to get more downloads and make it equally popular, however WhatsApp, with a billion monthly active users is still the leader in that industry.
But the good news for Facebook is that it has hit 800M users this week and these are active users, which means the actual number might be higher. This is very encouraging for Facebook since they have left no stone unturned to make Messenger as close to an open web messaging service, which unique features like video calling, no facebook registration required to make it a standalone messaging service, and money transfer functionality alongside the chat service.
What lies ahead for Facebook Messenger is the possibility of making it an offline messaging service, completely killing SMS.
It goes without saying that guys at Facebook are working hard to improve the user experience and get machine learning in its function. According to Nielsen, Facebook Messenger is the fastest growing application going by its roadmap, being the second most used application after Facebook itself.
David Marcus, VP of Messaging Products, said on Fb newsroom, “I’m happy to report that we’ve made a good step in that direction, and toward the end of 2015, we crossed the milestone of 800 million people using Messenger each month. It’s a good number, but we believe we have so much more opportunity ahead of us, and these are still the early days of Messenger.”
The blog post mentions detailed roadmap of 2016 and the work Facebook is going to do to strengthen its messaging platform. Messenger is a very crucial application, since the time it has become a standalone app in the application stores.
The post mentions all the achievements as of 2016 and how the product and engineering teams have worked towards these to ensure there is no room for questions.
Future Facebook Messenger Roadmap
1) Numberless messaging – This possibility has been very well voiced by Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, to be soon implemented on the application. This way one won’t need a Facebook account, not a phone number to contact anyone of this planet, or outside. Facebook is trying to make it cross platform, so you don’t have to bother about what gadget you’re using. Pick your conversation on your iPhone from where you left on your iPad.
2) Thread messages – Threads are nothing new, they have been here for a long time now. What Facebook wants to ensure is that everything happens within these threads without opening a new application for the same. In case you’ve missed your flight, get your next flight booked through their messaging app. Sounds impossible right? Well it looks like they’re quite confident.
3) Socialize – Considering the stranger will not need any information about you to add you and start conversing to you, you might as well virtually socialize with people out there. However, their main focus seems to be making groups on Messenger, exactly like WhatsApp group messaging feature to entertain your rants across your loved ones.
4) Artificial Intelligence powered digital assistant – iPhone users may have had enough of Siri now, but Facebook is testing its own computer program dubbed ‘M’ to give you a companion you have always dreamt about.
As always, Facebook wants to ensure all its customers are happy with the service, because it’s us powering the social networking giant. We certainly hope all these become a reality soon, because it will be extremely delightful to use one service for a thousand features for which we use hundred applications already. Imagine sitting at the comfort of your sofa and planning an impromptu trip to your favourite destination with the best of your friends, executing it within fifteen minutes, leaving you with ample time to do other chores. Such is a life we have all imagined and hopefully will come true soon.
[…] in Jan of this year, Facebook had announced that Messenger has over 800 Million users, and they would introduce slew of new features to it in 2016. Looks like thing are going quite […]