Facebook Creates A Unified Messaging System By Merging Messenger And Instagram Chat

Instagram - Messenger integration

Facebook has grown so large that it can hardly contain itself.

This first happened back in 2014, when CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg decided to unbundle the big blue app. But then again, Facebook is still growing, with its properties that include WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram, to keep growing with it.

During the years, Facebook and its three properties are becoming even more sophisticated than ever, with the introduction of new features and functions.

So where does the unbundling goes to? What does it mean? Nothing. That, if considering Facebook that unbundled itself, decides to re-bundle.

This is seen when the social giant integrates its Messenger chat with Instagram direct messages.

With billions of users combined, Facebook's messaging services across its three platforms pack a lot of potential, and also momentum if done right.

“If we do this well, we can create platforms for private sharing that could be even more important to people than the platforms we’ve already built to help people share and connect more openly,” Zuckerberg once said.

Facebook had been developing this integration in part to keep users from migrating to rival messaging services, like Apple iMessage and Google Chat.

Facebook’s Adam Mosseri and Stan Chudnovsky, the heads of Instagram and Messenger respectively, said in a statement:

“We’re connecting the Messenger and Instagram experience to bring some of the best Messenger features to Instagram. People on Instagram can decide whether to update immediately to this new experience.”

“In our research, four out of five people who use messaging apps in the US say that spending more time connecting with friends and family on these apps is important to them, yet one out of three people sometimes find it difficult to remember where to find a certain conversation thread. With this update, it will be even easier to stay connected without thinking about which app to use to reach your friends and family.“

Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion in 2012, and it bought WhatsApp in a $16 billion deal in 2014.

And the announcement here, is Zuckerberg's move to exert control over all three apps, which were originally intended to operate independently under the Facebook umbrella.

With the integration, Facebook is simply creating a cross-platform, and unified messaging capabilities.

This way, Facebook users can send a message to Instagram users, without having to download Instagram (if they didn't have it yet), and vice versa. For those who have both apps, they can message others on the other platform, without having to switch apps.

The integration of the two apps requires specific user consent. If users give the permission, their accounts on both platforms will be merged.

To entice users, Facebook is offering them the ability to send “selfie stickers”, watch Instagram videos with friends during video calls, and send disappearing messages. Users can reject the update if they want, but Facebook will no doubt be betting that access to new features will encourage them to say yes.

Instagram - Messenger integration
Credit: Facebook

The features in this new Messenger experience on Instagram, include:

  • Communicate Across Apps: Users can connect with friends and family across Instagram and Messenger by using either app to send messages and join video calls.
  • Watch Together: Users can watch videos on Facebook Watch, IGTV, Reels (coming soon), TV shows, movies, and more with friends and family during a video call.
  • Vanish Mode: Choose a mode where seen messages disappear after they’re seen or when users close the chat.
  • Selfie Stickers: Create a series of Boomerang stickers with users' selfie to use in conversation.
  • Chat Colors: Personalize chats with color gradients.
  • Custom Emoji Reactions: Create a shortcut of favorite emojis to react quickly to messages from friends.
  • Forwarding: Easily share content with up to five friends or groups.
  • Replies: Respond directly to a specific message in chat.
  • Animated Message Effects: Add visual flair to message with animated send effects.
  • Message Controls: Users can decide who can send them a message directly, and who shouldn't be able to send them message at all.
  • Enhanced Reporting and Blocking Updates: Users can report full conversations in addition to single messages on Instagram, and receive proactive blocking suggestions across Instagram and Messenger when they add their accounts in the updated Accounts Center.

The move is part of Zuckerberg's plan to pivot Facebook towards private communication, as opposed to the open broadcasting by users in the News Feed.

"I believe the future of communication will increasingly shift to private, encrypted services where people can be confident what they say to each other stays secure and their messages and content won't stick around forever," Zuckerberg said in March 2020.

Facebook Messenger and Instagram chats unification is Facebook's first step. The next would be integrating the two, with WhatsApp.

When that happens, Facebook will have a cross-platform messaging service that spans wide to a combined way over 3 billion unique monthly users.

The end-goal of this unification, is to create an end-to-end encrypted messaging system by default across all three services.

Instagram - Messenger integration
Credit: Facebook

Even though the apps remain standalone apps that can operate independently to one another, and work as different entities using separate companies, the move that brings the chat companies together could raise antitrust concerns over its messaging dominance.

European Union lawmakers for example, have expressed concerns over user privacy in January after Facebook announced its intentions. Facebook also faces antitrust scrutiny in both the Europe and the U.S. But Zuckerberg argued that social media users have many chat options.

There are lot of competitors out there people can choose, Zuckerberg said.

However, linking WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger together could make Facebook earn even more money, and at the same time, make it even more difficult for regulators to break them up back to individual parts. That according to various commentators.

"More than a billion people already use Messenger as a place to share, hang out and express themselves with family and friends," the company said. "That's why we're connecting the Messenger and Instagram experience to bring some of the best Messenger features to Instagram – so you have access to the best messaging experience, no matter which app you use."

Zuckerberg is sitting at the pinnacle of his business empire. With his opinion governing Facebook and its properties, the founders of both Instagram and WhatsApp have all quit the company since then.

Instagram founder Kevin Systrom, for example, abruptly announced his departure, while WhatsApp founder Jan Koum left the company he built over disagreements that included Facebook's plans to integrate advertising and other monetization methods

Initially, the integrated Instagram-Messenger messaging update is being rolled out to users “in a few countries around the world.” Facebook says that it plans to expand the feature globally in the near future.

Published: 
01/10/2020