Facebook Kills Mobile Web Messaging To Force Users Onto Messenger App
For some folks, Facebook's Messenger mobile app has felt like a stick in the mud. Prior to a couple of years ago, messaging people through Facebook was very easy - you could either load up the Facebook app, the Facebook website in a browser, or, if you were so inclined, use the dedicated Facebook Messenger app. Today, your options have become "optional".
When Facebook forced us all to transition over to the Messenger app if we wanted the ability to keep in contact with people while on-the-go, a second option for desperate people remained: just load Facebook up in a mobile Web browser, and chat to people that way, in effect mimicking the experience on the desktop. Well, if you've been using this solution, welcome to your rude awakening.
It appears that Facebook has begun informing users who continue to message this way that their "conversations are moving to Messenger", meaning that once Facebook flips the switch, users will have to use the dedicated mobile app, or visit Messenger.com and chat that way.
With Facebook so clearly intent on separating Facebook and Messenger, it almost seems inevitable that desktop users are going to suffer the same fate at some point, since Messenger.com is already an option (and a good one, if you don't mind the fragmented nature of the service).
There is so much that can be said about Facebook's move here, whether it's about how difficult the company is making messaging in a time of emergency or crisis, or how it's simply forcing our messaging tasks to require extra steps. What do you think?
