Facebook has joined the collective war of text messaging with a simple update to it’s Messenger app on Android. The app now requires nothing more than a name and phone number for one to start using it.
The move is quite unusual for Facebook but it probably needs to get it hands dirty in order to compete with the long established messaging alternative WhatsApp Messenger. WhatsApp has gained a lot of traction and shows no sign of slowing down, “WhatsApp me” has replaced “text me” in recent times. Facebook is certainly late to the game and hence it is making it easier for people to use it’s messaging app.
The app can now be used directly as a texting alternative the need to login, a move not merely targeted towards non-Facebook users but to enable easy setup as well. If you happen to message someone who isn’t on Facebook Messenger yet, the service will simply prompt the receiver to download Facebook Messenger for one’s phone.
India, Australia, Indonesia, Venezuela, and South Africa are the countries to have received the update so far with an international roll-out in the works. Facebook insists that the roll-out isn’t part of a specific strategy but we’ll go ahead and speculate that the move has been made so as to compete in markets such as these where there is a huge scope for messaging services.
In a way Facebook has completely missed the point here. One of the most important things about texting is the fact that it is universal in nature. WhatsApp has somewhat penetrated thanks to being available even on the most unheard of devices. Facebook Messenger as of now doesn’t have such ubiquity and unless it does it will merely remain what Facebook doesn’t want it to: a way to chat with you Facebook friends.