Plans are in top gear to merge Facebook’s Messenger together with WhatsApp and Instagram on a single platform. The integration will allow for sending and receiving of messages between the three apps, which are currently stand-alones at the moment. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is reported to be personally interested in the project.
The integration is projected to be complete before the end of this year or early next year. As soon as the merging is completed, a Messenger user will be able to send messages to a WhatsApp user even where both users use the platforms independent of each other, the BBC reported.
Integrating WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram Has Several Advantages
One of the main benefits of integrating Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram together is that different features of each will be accessible to users of the other platforms. What this means is that hitherto competing features of each app will be integrated into a seamless feature common to all the apps. This means data will be easily shareable on the three different platforms to achieve targeted ad campaigns.
When the three apps are integrated under the same owner such as Facebook, it will not only expand the social media’s ad reach; but will make it difficult for the government or regulatory agencies to target one component part of the trio for spin off. Furthermore, users of one service will invariably spend more time on the other services since they have become a suite of apps accessible to individual users.
This is not to mention the fact that Facebook will become better positioned to compete against Google’s and Apple’s messaging services.
Regulators May Scrutinize Facebook for Data Privacy Practices over This Integration Efforts
“We want to build the best messaging experiences we can; and people want messaging to be fast, simple, reliable and private,” Facebook wrote. “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.”
How the final integration will turn out remains the speculation of many people. In fact, analysts said Zuckerberg’s initial broaching of the subject caused the founders of both Instagram and WhatsApp to leave in 2018. The idea is still causing internal strife among staff and stakeholders but it is expected that this will be resolved pretty soon.
There is however a problem. Facebook faced several backlash early 2018 over sensitive data leaks and its shoddy manner of protecting user privacy. The social media was fined £500,000 back then for the data scandal. But its news efforts to merge Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp may sensitize government regulators to scrutinize its data handling practices again with a view to preventing another data privacy scandal.