According to a New York Times report released in late January, Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Executive of Facebook, has plans to integrate Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp into one massive communication platform.
The New York Times reported that these three platforms have more than 2.6 billion users worldwide and combining them will create one of the largest communication platforms available. The updated service is scheduled for release late this year or early 2020.
How Will Facebook Merge Messenger, Instagram And WhatsApp?
Facebook intends to allow each site to operate on its own while their back-end infrastructures become unified to connect the three messenger services.
Why Is Facebook Merging Messenger, Instagram And WhatsApp?
Merging three of their brands makes sense. By bringing these three teams together, Social Media Today notes, it will be easier to make updates and additions through a unified infrastructure.
After the merge, users of Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram will be able to message friends who use different communication apps without switching apps. If Bobby uses WhatsApp, he can message Jill, who uses Instagram, and she’ll receive the message on the Instagram platform. Both friends keep their favorite apps, and both friends can communicate seamlessly.
Facebook plans to enhance the end-to-end encryption, making each app more secure and private conversations more safe within the unified infrastructure. Plus, Reuters suggest, the unified app should be harder for antitrust lawyers to dismantle brand by brand.
With recent data hacks and security breaches affecting Facebook’s reputation, the brand has struggled with keeping users’ trust. However, many WhatsApp and Instagram users appear to be unaware that their favorite platforms are owned by Facebook or don’t seem to be worried about it, resulting in unwavering usage on these sites. Unifying all three platforms has the potential to increase user trust in the Facebook brand especially once users believe Facebook is secure.
What Does This Facebook Merger Mean For Marketers?
Facebook’s move to integrate their various messaging services will allow for seamless communication across platforms. One-on-one messaging may get easier for marketers as a unified platform will allow for communication, no matter which of the three messengers consumers use. Plus, marketers will be able to monitor one of these platforms, receiving messages from all three sites in one, centralized location.
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More Content by Victoria Pallien
