You Don't Reach Half a Billion Friends Without Spamming a Few Enemies
Half a billion people now use Facebook's standalone app, Messenger. Should we all be congratulating Facebook for their feat? Messenger seems to have done what Slingshot and Facebook's other failed apps could not.
It would be quite an achievement if Facebook hadn't forced its mobile users into getting Messenger. In April, Messenger had 'only' 200 million users and so Facebook had to come up with a plan to make people turn to it as a stand-alone app. Over the summer, Facebook users were dismayed to learn that they could no longer message their friends from the main Facebook app, but were redirected to the App store and forced to download Messenger instead. You had no other choice if you wanted to use your mobile device to see what your friend had sent you.
In a recent Q&A with Mark Zuckerberg, the most asked question was: "Why did you force us to install Facebook Messenger?" Facebook's creator admitted it was not the smoothest of transitions, but overall it would end having more positive than negative repercussions, as all your friends were now using Messenger, all at once.
Although the app has only 1.5 stars on the IOS store, taking Messenger off the main Facebook app was a good decision. With Messenger, you can really reach your friends, the ones with smart phones, instantly - just like texting. It's quicker than having to go through loading the main Facebook app to view messages. Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook "could never deliver the quality of experience as just a tab in the main Facebook app."
It makes sense that Facebook would turn to developing its messaging service further, having already purchased Whatsapp. And Facebook Messenger does offer more services than simply texting; you can send stickers, have group messages and the most important of all, it's completely free. Facebook have announced that they will be continually improving Messenger to provide users with the best possible experience. After making us download the app, let's hope they won't disappoint their 500 million users.