The process of voting will be easier for you if you and your mates tend to use Facebook Messenger as a new polls feature has now been added to the messaging app.
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Facebook is testing a new feature on its Messenger app starting today that’ll use machine learning to prompt you to pay back your friends.
Facebook writes that it could help “get groups of people to make decisions and plans [such as] which day to meet up for coffee, where to go on the next family vacation, and much more”. Today Messenger users on iOS and Android in the United States get two new features which could roll out to other countries if they test well.
These group chat polls will allow users to ask a question, list multiple possible answers and send to all friends in a group chat, allowing them to vote. According to Facebook, polls do not have a time limit, so if you can find a poll from weeks back, you can still answer it. Anyone in the group chat can tap on the Polls icon which appears when you hit the “More” button. It’s also similar to the Facebook Questions feature from 2010, which was later redesigned for quick polls and recommendations.
The features are rolling out in the U.S., and Facebook could bring it to other countries depending on how they work out.
Do you and your friends struggle to agree on where to go for dinner? Phrases like “IOU”, or possibly “You owe me $10” or “Send me $18 for dinner” will trigger Messenger to insert a payment button like “Pay $18” below the message.
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Facebook enabled friend-to-friend payments a year ago, allowing Messenger users to send money to each other, and took another step earlier this month when it opened payments to chatbots.
