Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Facebook Messenger Hits 900M Monthly Active Users; To Get Snapchat-Like Features

Posted by msmash on from the welcome-to-facebook-world dept.

Facebook, on Thursday, announced that Messenger now has 900 million monthly active users. On the sidelines, the company also announced a couple of Snapchat-like features it is bringing to its messaging client. Alex Health, reporting for Tech Insider: Facebook executive David Marcus said that Messenger will soon let you create profile usernames and web links. The links will look like "m.me/yourusername" and let anyone quickly add you in Messenger without looking up your Facebook account. The usernames and profile links will also be available to businesses, which are starting to use Messenger as a way to deliver customer support and let you buy things through chatting. Every Messenger account will also have a scannable QR code within the app, which is exactly how Snapchat lets people share their profiles with others. Snapchat also recently added the ability to share profiles on the web with public URLs. It is worth noting that earlier this year, Facebook-owned WhatsApp app reached 1 billion monthly active users.

13 of 26 comments (clear)

  1. meh by sirber · · Score: 1

    900 millions forced users. Facebook is the #1 bloat on Android.

    --
    Be or ben't
    1. Re: meh by Threni · · Score: 1

      This is about active users, and excludes people who simply have it installed. It's preinstalled because Facebook/messenger is the main reason many people bought a phone in the first place.

  2. Part of the reason I rooted my phone by pecosdave · · Score: 3, Interesting

    was to make sure I wasn't in that number.

    This is one of the worst battery vampires around and they've bribed most U.S. carriers to make sure it's installed on phones in a way that can't be easily removed. Does a forced, can't be uninstalled copy truly count towards that number? It's sort of like dead people voting.

    --
    The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
    1. Re: Part of the reason I rooted my phone by Threni · · Score: 2

      No, they wouldn't be active users. Rooting your phone is overkill ; just disable it and untick the notifications box and you'll suffer no data/battery penalty.

    2. Re: Part of the reason I rooted my phone by pecosdave · · Score: 1

      But it still waste "hard" on-board storage. Sure this app isn't THAT big, but you add the main Facebook app, the Fitbit software that was on there for who knows what reason when I bought it, the fact that even apps I use have an "original version" in storage even after I upgrade to a newer one for "uninstall all updates" purposes. Did I mention my phone had a program called "ISIS" when I bought it? I looked at the guy in the AT&T store and said "Really?". He said "yeah, it's renamed after the update". I don't even remember what that was for, but it's gone now too, it wasn't something I needed.

      Overkill for just that? Sure. Overkill for the rest? Nope. I even paid the $20 for the sunshine unlock.

      I tell my users all the time - Apple people hack their iPhones to put on software Apple doesn't want them to have. Android people root their devices to get rid of software they don't want.

      --
      The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
  3. Hmmmm .... by gstoddart · · Score: 2

    The links will look like "m.me/yourusername" and let anyone quickly add you in Messenger without looking up your Facebook account

    So, any random idiot will be able to spam you without trying hard?

    Yeah, what could possibly go wrong on that one ... sorry, you should have to look it up to prove you're allowed to send to me.

    The usernames and profile links will also be available to businesses, which are starting to use Messenger as a way to deliver customer support and let you buy things through chatting.

    Just any old business gets this because they say so?

    Yeah, whatever, yet more crap from Facebook to ensure gets blocked so I don't have to deal with it. Just like I don't consent to being tracked by these assholes, I don't see why I would want any form of interaction with this.

    I'm betting the amount of unwanted messages will be epic.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:Hmmmm .... by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 2

      How about iMessage? I've never had a single unwanted message on that platform.

    2. Re: Hmmmm .... by Threni · · Score: 1

      Isn't messenger opt in? I've never got any spam/"wrong numbers" etc. If only there was a similar, sensible system for phone calls. Like a global VoIP standard with a single directory.

    3. Re:Hmmmm .... by danbob999 · · Score: 1

      your provider must be very good at filtering SMS spam because they endup in the same mailbox

    4. Re:Hmmmm .... by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 1

      No phone service, no SMS.

  4. Facebook by ledow · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Facebook app is shit and just fills up my phone (presumably with cached photos etc.) until it gets so bogged down that it literally just stops loggin in. Literally, it's quicker and easier to load up Chrome on my phone and do Facebook from there.

    Facebook messenger app - why the fuck is that separate?

    Whatsapp - currently okay. Except I paid for five years and then you just made it free and I get NOTHING for that.

    Get rid of the first two, put in a browser window that does Facebook notifications into it, and I might use it more often. Until then, it's really a website I go on when I get an email (i.e. someone's talking to me on it), and then I talk to them on WhatsApp anyway.

    1. Re:Facebook by djrobxx · · Score: 1

      > Facebook messenger app - why the fuck is that separate?
      > Literally, it's quicker and easier to load up Chrome on my phone and do Facebook from there.

      I used to feel the same, but I think you just answered your own question. By keeping Facebook Messenger as it's own independent thing, people can more easily use it as their primary "chatting" platform without a lot of bloat. Need to send a message? The icon to take you there can be right on your phone's home screen, and you don't need to wade through FB's "news feed" while trying to get there. As a separate app it's barely more work than using the phone's built in SMS tool.

  5. Re:900 million monthly active users? by LinuxIsGarbage · · Score: 1

    . . . who's mom's basement is hosting it.