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Facebook Makes Messenger a Platform

Posted by samzenpus on from the stand-on-your-own-two-feet dept.

Steven Levy writes At Facebook's F8 developer conference, the ascension of the Messenger app was the major announcement. Messenger is no longer just a part of Facebook, but a standalone platform to conduct a wide variety of instant communications, not only with friends, but with businesses you may deal with as well. It will compete with other messaging services such as Snapchat, Line and even Facebook's own WhatsApp by offering a dizzying array of features, many of them fueled by the imagination and self-interest of thousands of outside software developers.

3 of 48 comments (clear)

  1. and so it goes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Already I've seen businesses where the only way to interact with them online is on Facebook. And many people do all online socialization using Facebook too, and don't use email at all.

    Whatever happened to the concept of an open internet? Protocols that anybody could write to? Where anyone could run their own server if they wanted?

    The internet doesn't route around censorship if it's all centralized and proprietary.

  2. Yet another platform? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We need a new icon, one that shows zuckerberg with a borg assimilation upgrade ala the Bill Gates one; Seriously.

  3. Re:What guarantees of longevity? by MightyYar · · Score: 3, Insightful

    BTW, what would you guys suggest to wean non-technical friends off FB chat,

    I don't know... we've gone backwards. We started out with competing and non-compatible IM clients - AIM being the biggest. For a while we were trending toward a bunch of competing but compatible IM clients. Then everyone abandoned IM for SMS. Now they are abandoning SMS for a bunch of competing non-compatible IM clients... just on the phone this time.

    I currently have WhatsApp installed for a single friend who insists on using it. It's pretty good - give that one a shot. Sometimes people invite me to a Google Hangout - and that also lets you talk or video chat for free. Viber is another one that works pretty well and gives you free calling. The desktop version does video. I have exactly one friend on that.

    --
    W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.