Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, Instagram Will Be Merged: 3 Ways How Your Digital Life Will Change Forever

Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook and owner of Whatsapp, Instagram has some shocking plan regarding how people use these apps.

New York Times has reported that Zuckerberg plans to combine and integrate Facebook Messenger with Whatsapp and Instagram, and this is his ‘personal project’.

Last month, when Facebook attempted to integrate the internal message boards for employees from Whatsapp and Facebook, and Whatsapp employees had objected and protested.

But here, we are talking about integrating the world’s largest social media apps, which have a combined user base of 2.6 billion as of now.

Here are three ways your digital life will change forever if this happens:

Cross-Messaging Becomes A Reality

Once integrated, cross-messaging will become a reality, and this is indeed scary.

Say, a user only has a Whatsapp account, and hates Facebook and Instagram.

Once this massive integration happens, then a Facebook user would easily be able to message a Whatsapp user, even if he doesn’t use Facebook.

Whatsapp users would be able to contact and follow Instagram users, even if they don’t even have an Instagram account.

Data Sharing With Advertisers Becomes Super-Easy

Now, comes the interesting part, based on which this whole idea was planned, most probably.

Data sharing with advertisers.

Now, once this integration happens, then advertisers would be able to hunt for users’ data more easily, and more seamlessly.

Facebook, the parent company, would be able to sell a ‘package’ of data for the advertiser, and thus, make more money. Mark Zuckerberg will have control over 2.6 billion users of Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram, and will turn his company into a goldmine of data which advertisers would be happy to pay a fortune to get hold to.

User Privacy Will Take A Hit

And, the most scary part. Data privacy of users.

Once integrated, the combined new social network will become a Universe into itself, as more than 2.6 billion users will be present there.

User’s privacy, whatever is remaining, will be destroyed forever. Now, users need to have an actual identity to create a Facebook or Instagram account, but just a phone number is enough to launch Whatsapp.

Imagine the scenario once everything is combined. Now, when a hacker hacks into Facebook, then he gets only Facebook accounts. But now, the hacker will be able to get Whatsapp and Instagram account details as well!

Marc Rotenberg, president and executive director the Electronic Privacy Information Center has said, that this integration shall have a terrible consequences for the users. He urged the Federal Trade Commission to look into this matter, and stop this integration.

Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California has also criticised this move, as he said, “This is why there should have been far more scrutiny during Facebook’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, which now clearly seem like horizontal mergers that should have triggered antitrust scrutiny,”

There are several technical aspects into it, which Facebook is working on right now: How to create a common messaging platform which encompasses Messenger, Whatsapp and Instagram messages; how to enable cross-compatibility of images, text, and contacts and more.

Facebook said in a statement: “As you would expect, there is a lot of discussion and debate as we begin the long process of figuring out all the details of how this will work,”

Do you think this is a good step? Do let us know, by commenting right here!

Image Source: New York Times