A recent report by the researcher Jane Manchun Wong reveals that Facebook is thinking of integrating the Messenger app back into the Facebook mobile app. Earlier, the messaging option was available inside the Facebook app along with the Messenger app.
Facebook is bringing the Chats back to the app for preparing integrated messaging
Tip @Techmeme pic.twitter.com/LABK7qrk0e
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) April 12, 2019
However, Facebook soon started to force people to download its Messenger app in order to chat with friends. Quickly after that, the option to have conversations with friends via Chat was completely removed from the Facebook app.
Wong reports that ‘reactions’ and photo sharing options are not yet available in the chat. However, she argues that it could be because the app is currently in development.
Facebook is unlikely to remove its Messenger App downloads anytime soon. The company recently added a dark-mode to the messenger app on iOS to improve its usability at night.
The Messenger app has over 1.3 billion users worldwide, giving Facebook more than enough reason to keep it around.
What Facebook can do is offer the Chat feature as an addition to the app while stripping it of some of the features available in the Messenger app. This also aligns with the current customer-centric policy Facebook is already heading towards.
Several people in the US Congress have started to play with the idea of regulating content on social media websites. This hostile response comes after years of unregulated fake news propagated on these platforms, further causing real-world harm.
Before the impending storm hits, Facebook will very likely regulate itself. The platform recently took a stand against the growing white nationalist content on its platform. The company even detailed the groups that’d be terminated under this new rule.
Furthermore, Mark Zuckerberg and his officials can also be seen as busy giving interviews and talking about the need for quality journalism in society.