Facebook is reportedly working on a solution for users on Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp to message each other between platforms.
A report in The New York Times revealed the details, including a quote from a Facebook spokesperson:
“[We want to] build the best messaging experiences we can; and people want messaging to be fast, simple, reliable and private.
We’re working on making more of our messaging products end-to-end encrypted and considering ways to make it easier to reach friends and family across networks.”
Each service would still exist is a standalone app, so users will not be forced to download another new app.
The solution is designed for people who only use one of Facebook’s properties to communicate with people who use a different app.
This move would also serve the company’s best interests of keeping users engaged on their platform of choice.
For example, if many of your friends are beginning to favor Instagram, but you prefer Facebook, you could still chat with them without having to leave Facebook.
The idea of integrating the messaging platforms is reportedly being championed by Mark Zuckerberg, who once vowed to keep them separate.
Zuckerberg intends to follow through with this plan despite the rift it is causing within the company at the moment.
Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp have more than 2.6 billion users between them.
This would mark the first time they’ve been able to communicate across the platforms.
The plan is to have a solution in place either by the end of this year or in early 2020.
