Those of us who have been on Facebook for awhile may remember that the app once included direct access to messages. That changed in 2014, when Facebook forced people over to a standalone Messenger app for private chats, but it appears the social network may be getting the band back together.
In a long blog post that talked up the fact that Facebook now has 2 billion daily active users (not dead yet!), Head of Facebook Tom Alison says the company's focus in 2023 will be on "artificial intelligence, messaging, creators and monetization."
AI shouldn't be a surprise and everybody likes making money, but on the messaging front, Alison says Facebook is "testing the ability for people to access their Messenger inbox within the Facebook app." Details are scant, but "you’ll see us expand this testing soon," he says.
"Private conversations are a big way that people share and connect on our apps," Alison says. "Today, over 140 billion messages are sent across our apps every day."
Last year, for example, Facebook added community chats to some Facebook Groups, and across Facebook and Messenger, the number of people trying them increased by 50% in December 2022, according to Alison.
This year, "we’ll build more ways to integrate messaging features in Facebook," he says. "Ultimately, we want it to be easy and convenient for people to connect and share, whether in the Messenger app or directly within Facebook."
The news shouldn't come as too much of a surprise: A memo leaked last summer hinted at the move. But details were scant, with the exception of a December screenshot of the refreshed in-app chat feature from social media consultant Matt Navarra, The Verge notes.
Over on Instagram, Meta recently rolled out Broadcast Channels, which are basically group direct messages for creators. Followers can join a broadcast channel for direct updates from people in the message format, but they can only interact via emoji reactions or by voting in polls.