Facebook’s Unified Messaging Plan May Convince Many To Quit Facebook

Last week Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook made an announcement about a massive overhaul for its instant messaging apps: Messenger, WhatsApp and the chat version of Instagram. Sometime soon all three apps will be unified. 

Facebook is considering integrating all three apps so that a user can message another user from one app to another app without the need of having to open up the other app.

This sounds like it would be great except that it is well known that Facebook doesn’t do anything unless there’s a dollar to make in the process.

One thing to keep in mind is that all three apps will remain available. And most important is that currently, What’sApp has end-to-end encryption but in the future so will Messenger and the chat version of Instagram. Currently end-to-end encryption in Messenger is not available by default but that will change.

Having all the apps incorporate end-to-end encryption is great news for anyone worried about Facebook spying on messages.

Facebook hasn’t said exactly when the unifying of Messenger, WhatsApp and the chat version of Instagram will take place.

However, when it does happen, it may encourage users to drop Facebook all together.  Since last year’s Cambridge Analytics scandal many users have wanted to drop Facebook, but it would leave them without the use of Messenger. Now, however, with unification of all three apps, it will make that possible for the user.

Also, if you are using WhatsApp currently for all your messaging because of its end-to-end encryption as well as that it has no ads in it, you will be able to do so when all three apps are unified: to message anyone on Facebook and Instagram without having to open up on either of those social networks.  

However, it is not clear presently if you will have to be registered on all three social networks in order for the integration to work. Not everyone wants to do that.

The thing to be wary of is that Facebook may want to access all three unified platforms to provide ad marketers better service to reach the user and in the process make more money. We know users who don’t have Facebook accounts are being tracked by Facebook. So gone will be the days of using a social platform with no ads!