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Facebook Messenger now has 700 million users.
BEACON TRANSCRIPT – More improvements are arriving for the Messenger, as Facebook is trying out the disappearing messages feature that has become highly popular with Snapchat users. In fact, it seems that they’re attempting to bring over some of that charm.
Facebook users in France now have another option available on the standalone app. While in a conversation, they can tap the hourglass icon on the upper right corner, and then the option will be activated. Every message in that particular tab will be deleted an hour after it was sent. So, revisiting will become impossible. However, it will also automatically clear the chat.
According to a Facebook spokeswoman, the company is looking to offer their 1.5 billion user base a new fun option to play around with. As stated, the feature is completely optional, so there’s no need to fear that the messages will disappear without your prompting. It will only happen after the option is activated, and can be turned off.
It should be noted that by turning on the feature, it will be for just that particular conversation. Meaning that it will not disappear from all your chats with other users. This could be a highly useful addition, and a beneficial option. It’s a good reminder of Snapchat, the service that arrived on the market with the biggest success with the disappearing feature.
This isn’t the first time Facebook experimented with it. Back in 2012, the social media giant released Poke, which allowed users to send photos or videos that were deleted in a matter of seconds. Once viewed they were gone. However, it was retracted from the app store in 2014. And now, the feature is making a comeback.
It has proven itself very successful with apps such as Snapchat, WeChat or Line, so it’s expected that it will be well received by Facebook users. It has been suggested that it’s only a matter of time until it will be released globally. The option has proven itself popular for multiple uses, such as simply clearing the data, unburdening chats, or just matters of privacy.
However, Snapchat remains the most famous for its use, now boasting 100 million users. The company recently stated that their views on videos have went up to 6 billion views per day. It’s been well known that Facebook has been trying to break through the video market, but is still lagging behind against its biggest competitor, YouTube.
It was reported that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg tried purchasing Snapchat for $3 billion in 2013, but CEO Evan Spiegel declined.
Image source: logicsolutions.com
