Users may now use Facebook Messenger, even without owning a Facebook account.
Facebook announced that they will be rolling out a new way for users in the United States, Canada, Venezuela or Peru to sign up for Messenger, sans a Facebook account. The company said that they have been focusing on making the best messaging experience possible by providing users a fun and easy way to link and communicate with friends and other people on the web. The new update will allow more users to enjoy various feature on Messenger, such as videos, photos, group chats, video calling, voice calls, and stickers, among others. Only a phone number is required to start connecting.
Facebook also provided the instructions on how to use the new feature. When people get to the Messenger welcome screen, they will find an option stating “Not on Facebook?” Next, they can sign up their name, photo and phone number. Individuals who already have Facebook accounts will observe that they get several benefits by using Messenger via their existing accounts. They can take advantage of convenient messaging, access their messages on Facebook as well as use multi-device messaging over different tablets, mobile devices and the internet. Users can go to the Facebook Help Center to get more details.
Wired.com reported that Messenger was upgraded from an app to a full platform in March 2015. There were over 40 apps introduced for Messenger, such as its first game and video calls. ZDNet stated that Messenger introduced peer-to-peer payments in March 2015, which allows users to send digital cash to contacts conveniently. Considering how Facebook has close to 1.4 billion monthly active users, the new payment feature will certainly pose a threat to existing digital payment providers. The company aims to introduce location sharing in July 2015, a feature that was not frequently used on WhatsApp.
Apparently, Facebook intends to make Messenger the main chat app of users and make it independent from the social media giant, similar to Instagram, Oculus and WhatsApp, all of which are also owned by Facebook. Others speculated that having the messenger app on Facebook might make the platform redundant, although Facebook cited that there are benefits to derive by linking both Facebook and Messenger. Overall, Messenger is a good opportunity to connect with people who never owned a Facebook account. Messenger has transformed into arguably the fastest growing spinoff app as Facebook continues to pack it with features to lure more users.
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