Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) isn’t publicly discussing the plans to enrich Messenger to make it an irresistibly useful mobile app. company officials are also deliberately mum on the issue. As it stands, 800 million people is about 11 percent of people just using Messenger alone each month. While the rate of acceleration has slowed slightly, it’s clearer than ever that Facebook’s decision to spin out Messenger as a standalone entity (preventing users from messaging through the main Facebook app) has paid off. The strategy is already bearing fruit: Messenger users can now interact with businesses to make purchases, chat with customer service representatives, and order rides through Uber.
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OTT messagers have been eating into the SMS market share in a big way in the past few years.
Besides its AI helper M, Messenger has given some developers a software kit to help create new bots, according to TechCrunch. WhatsApp, which Facebook acquired for $19 billion back in 2014, announced in September that it had passed the 900 million user mark. Yes, you can send text messages, but you can also send stickers, photos, videos, voice clips, GIFs, your location, and money to people. Its user base stood at 500 million as of March, 2015.
“One of the things we have to work on this year is this perception or mindset that Messenger is only to speak with your Facebook friends”, said Messenger head David Marcus in a phone interview on Wednesday.
Facebook says the number of people using its Messenger application has grown to more than 800 million.
So keep an eye out for similar features, because the social network is no longer just that; soon enough, all your online transactions will be carried out via Messenger conversations.
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“We want all of our experiences to be delightful and helpful, and to make your life easier, but we also want to empower you to put a smile on the faces of those people who matter the most in your life”, Marcus concluded. Our test of M, our digital virtual assistant, powered by human-trained AI, is going well. This will ensure that users stay in Facebook’s family of apps, leading to more revenue for the company.
