Messaging is coming back to Facebook. Wait, did it ever leave to begin with? Apparently, Facebook is trying to tap into the emerging, or re-emerging rather, messaging usage trends. In a new overview of his evolving plans for the app, Facebook Chief Tom Alison has shared an update on where Facebook is currently placed. For the most part, it reads a lot like a pitch that hooks into the AI hype, without really revealing much about any specific plans.

Reimagining Messaging

Alison, in a vision-statement-like kind of way, discusses how AI is being integrated into Facebook:

  • Using AI to recommend relevant Reels to users.

  • Using AI to recommend relevant public groups and group content.

  • Using AI to highlight emerging creators that may be of interest.

Most of us are aware that Meta uses machine learning and systematic recommendations to highlight relevant content. This isn’t a big, new revelation or update. Then again, it does seem like Facebook is keen to get in on the AI hype, highlighting that it has somewhat already been using AI even before it started becoming big.

This element is perhaps the most interesting aspect:

“Today, over 140 billion messages are sent across our apps every day. On Instagram, people already reshare Reels nearly 1 billion times daily through DMs and on Facebook we see private sharing of Reels growing strongly as well. We are testing the ability for people to access their Messenger inbox within the Facebook app and you’ll see us expand this testing soon.”

So, after seven years of forcing everyone to download a separate Messenger app, Meta is now looking to re-integrate messaging directly within the main Facebook app. This comes as a result of the broader shift towards private messaging, which has been noted by both big boys, Zuckerberg and Instagram Chief Adam Mosseri. True enough, a recent internal report does show that the average time spent on both Facebook and Instagram is rising, while creation and engagement are down. Fewer people tend to post public updates and instead opt for more private conversations.

The Wrap

This habitual shift has seen Meta put more focus on messaging interactions, enacting projects that greatly add to the utility and connective capacity of messaging channels such as DMs. It also seems that DMs will now be directly merged back into the Facebook experience, which could be good as it makes sharing content to more private circles easier and more convenient. Either that or it’ll have little impact. Either way, it could be another trend shift in the making, which could see DMs increase in engagement. For marketers, this could also be a key consideration since a shift towards more private messaging would likely result in less Feed visibility, thus affecting direct engagement numbers.

Sources

http://bit.ly/3kUczk6