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Facebook is integrating Instagram and Facebook Messenger.
Facebook announced Wednesday that it will integrate Messenger chat with Instagram direct messages, pushing it toward its goal of a unified messaging system across its three messaging apps.
Facebook users can now message Instagram users without downloading a new app, and vice versa, although they can also opt out of the feature.
The move is part of Zuckerberg’s plan to shift Facebook toward private communication, as opposed to open streaming by users on the News Feed. The ultimate goal, according to Zuckerberg, is to integrate messaging services on Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp.
“I believe that the future of communication will increasingly shift towards private and encrypted services where people can be sure that what they are saying will be kept safe and their messages and content will not stay forever,” Zuckerberg said last March.
Wednesday’s announcement is Zuckerberg’s latest move to exert control over the three apps, which were originally intended to operate independently under the Facebook umbrella. Facebook bought Instagram for a billion dollars in 2012 and bought WhatsApp in a 16 billion dollar deal in 2014.
The founders of Instagram and WhatsApp have since resigned from the company, giving up hundreds of millions of dollars, and Zuckerberg has since installed loyalists in their place. WhatsApp founders Brian Acton and Jan Koum left disagreements that included Facebook’s plans to integrate advertising and other monetization methods. Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger abruptly announced their departure just over two years ago.
Although they will remain separate apps, the decision to unite the chat companies could also raise antitrust concerns about their dominance of messaging.
Facebook had been developing the feature in part to prevent users from migrating to rival messaging services, such as Apple iMessage and Google Chat. Facebook’s messaging apps have a combined 3.14 billion unique users each month, according to their Q2 2020 earnings report.
European Union lawmakers raised concerns about user privacy in January after Facebook announced its intentions. Facebook also faces antitrust scrutiny in Europe and the United States. But Zuckerberg argued that social media users have many chat options. However, linking WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger together could make it difficult for regulators to divide the company into those individual parts.
“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.”
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