Mark Zuckerberg Confirms Facebook Is Considering Combining Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram For iMessage-Like Experience

Facebook just can’t stay out of the news right now, and this time, it’s in relation to a report last week that claimed the social giant was looking to combine Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram messaging into a single platform.

Now, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed as much.

Zuckerberg was speaking during Facebook’s earnings call yesterday, and while he did say that combining the three messaging platforms was something the company is considering, he also said that it will not be happening this year, according to The Verge.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that the project — “to whatever term we end up doing this” — would likely not show up until 2020 and beyond.

“The integration that we’re thinking about, we’re really early in thinking through this,” Zuckerberg said on the company’s Q4 earnings call. “There’s a lot more we need to figure out.”

The reason for the move, says Zuckerberg, is an interest in security. Apparently, the move would enable users of Messenger and other Facebook messaging platforms to converse with each other while keeping their messages secure via end-to-end encryption. The idea, so it seems, is to get end up with something more akin to Apple’s iMessage than anything Facebook has been able to muster so far.

Zuckerberg also provided a few examples as to why users would want a combined service, highlighting awkward cases where someone might use the marketplace feature on Facebook, but then have to jump over to WhatsApp for messaging. He also highlighted the possibility that Messenger — and the combined WhatsApp / Instagram system — could serve as an iMessage-like layer for SMS that would offer more functionality and security.

No matter whether you’re up for the move or not, it looks like it’s going to happen. It won’t be happening any time before 2020, though, so there’s that to keep in mind.

(Source: The Verge)

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