Facebook has not stopped in acquire applications in order to diversify its service, but now the social network is planning to take a very important step as it will will integrate WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger messaging service.
WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger to merge their messaging services
According to data disclosed by The New York Times, the same Mark Zuckerberg has decided to take this measure, which for the time being will allow WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger to function as individual apps, but a common infrastructure will be created whereby users of all of them will be able to contact each other.
At the moment the union of WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger services is still in the early stages of work, according to reports, but there are plans to have it completed by the end of this year or early 2020.
This information is based on the testimony of four Facebook employees, who assured that this will be a complex task that will require that “thousands of Facebook employees reconfigure how WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger work at their most basic levels.”
Surely many users will be concerned about what this merger will mean for the messaging services of three of the most popular applications on the planet. However, Facebook assures that one of the main features behind this decision is that of set end-to-end encryption in all of them, a function that until now was only present inWhatsApp.
The great potential for advertising after the merger
The objective behind this decision is clear: to keep users under the services of Facebook, whichis becoming more and more opaque after the exponential growth of its other social networks. In addition, this integration will allow its billions of users to opt out ofrival messaging services.
However, the most decisive step after the union of WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger will be improve and integrate new advertising formats and other services that finally achieve monetizethese platforms that have attracted millions of users.
This is undoubtedly a radical change in Zuckerberg’s stance on the handling of WhatsApp and Instagram, independent companies that he acquired and that promised to maintain their independence.
However the rapid and large growth of its use has managed to change Zuckerberg’s thinking, who now believes that tighter integration will be beneficial to “the entire Facebook family of applications” at tomake them more useful, according to reports.
Of course, this has provoked an opposition by a number of Instagram and WhatsApp employees, who have in fact been left without their founders after leaving the company over disagreements with Zuckerberg and now dozens of employees are upset about the new plan.
Concern about personal data
The integration between WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger could also raise concerns about the privacy of user data, as information could be shared between services.
Currently, a cell phone number is required to log in to WhatsApp, while Instagram and Messenger ask users for provide an e-mail address and your identity data.
By integrating these services, some users may feel intimidated and move away from the platforms, especially those who prefer to keep the use of each app separate, whether for work or personal whether for work or personal reasons.
