For those of us who avoid social media at all costs, we have some interesting news for you.
Facebook has plans to integrate WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram Messenger.
So… is this good news or bad news? Depends where you stand.
If your trust in Facebook has been lost – especially after a certain scandal broke last year – you probably won’t feel all warm and fuzzy about the integration. Ditto if you’re trying to cut back on Instagram and are planning a social media detox.
And while you might not consider the messaging platform to be social media, it is owned by the biggest social networking platform on the planet.
So, even if you’ve spent the past few months trying to distance yourself from Facebook there’s no getting away from it.
The social network is committed to streamlining the process of collecting your data – no matter what platform you’re using to message your friends, family, and coworkers.
Last week The New York Times reported that Facebook is looking to integrate Facebook Messenger, Instagram DM’s and WhatsApp.
According to The New York Times “. . . the services will continue to operate as stand-alone apps, but their underlying technical infrastructure will be unified.”
This means over 2.6 billion users across the three messaging platforms will be able to cross-communicate to a certain degree between the messaging apps.
“The move has the potential to redefine how billions of people use the apps to connect with one another while strengthening Facebook’s grip on users, raising antitrust, privacy and security questions. It also underscores how Mr. Zuckerberg is imposing his authority over units he once vowed to leave alone,” the New York Times reports.
A Facebook spokesperson told Tech Crunch the social media platform was “…considering ways to make it easier to reach friends and family across networks.”
But for the users who have no issues with Facebook, Zuckerberg’s move could make life a lot easier for the masses. After all, dealing with multiple messaging platforms can be annoying, especially when your social circles operate across two or three different messaging apps.
Users can expect all three messaging apps to be end-to-end encrypted.
What are your thoughts on the combining of Facebook Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp? Let us know in the comments below.
Written by Laura Kell and Shivani Mathur. Photo credit: Shutterstock.