Every social media is scrambling to get a part of Snapchat’s market. Instagram just rolled out a “Stories” feature that is so clearly a rip-off of Snapchat Stories, the similarity was lost on no one. Now Facebook has added yet another feature that mimics Snapchat to their Messenger, calling it “Instant Video.” In their press release debuting this feature, Facebook says that they are continually looking for new ways to allow their users to personalize their use of Messenger.
If the introduction of Messenger, especially as a separate app from Facebook itself, was meant to negate the necessity of your phone’s own texting feature (though most phones were smart enough to integrate Messenger into a broader “updates” feed, before it could completely take over the texting realm), this feature has clearly been introduced to eliminate the need for FaceTime, Skype, and your phone’s own video chat function. Facebook is no longer content to just be a social media—it wants the entire world of communication.
And for better or for worse, it is actually succeeding. Facebook has about one billion users on Messenger. Of those users, about 300 million are using Instant Video each month. That’s about the same number of people who have Skype accounts. If Facebook’s goal was to put a knife in the heart of Skype, it’s taken a step towards doing just that. It’s working its way to ending Snapchat’s domination of instant, quick communications, with Instant Video.
If any social media was poised to be able to cut traditional calling out of the picture, Facebook is that network. Of all social media, Facebook provides people with the most complete contact list. People are friends with not just their real life friends, but their family, their coworkers, their acquaintances. Using this feature, people will be able to connect with just about anyone and they will not even have to ask for their phone number. It goes beyond the limitations of your contact list and is actually more likely to be used than apps like Skype, because people are already in the app, talking to their friends, sharing pictures, and even sharing GIFs now. People already live in this app and now it has given them the ability to chat face to face with the people who they could only send text and images to before.
Real time communications are nothing new—they’ve been around since the invention of the telegraph. Instant video adds the ability to stream video right into your Messenger chat. All you have to do is to tap the little video icon now added to all Messenger chats, and you will start sharing real time video with that person, as long as they have the same Messenger conversation open. According to Facebook’s press release about the feature, audio is off by default, but can be turned on by the person receiving the livestream. It even allows you to continue your text conversation during the stream and to send your own live video, while the other person is live streaming—not unlike a FaceTime or Skype call. But instead of having to leave your Messenger conversation to place that call, it is happening in the same space.
Facebook touts this feature as a way to be “in person” at events you would otherwise miss, allowing you to expand the sphere of your everyday life.
Every social media is scrambling to get a part of Snapchat’s market. Instagram just rolled out a “Stories” feature that is so clearly a rip-off of Snapchat Stories, the similarity was lost on no one. Now Facebook has added yet another feature that mimics Snapchat to their Messenger, calling it “Instant Video.” In their press release debuting this feature, Facebook says that they are continually looking for new ways to allow their users to personalize their use of Messenger.
If the introduction of Messenger, especially as a separate app from Facebook itself, was meant to negate the necessity of your phone’s own texting feature (though most phones were smart enough to integrate Messenger into a broader “updates” feed, before it could completely take over the texting realm), this feature has clearly been introduced to eliminate the need for FaceTime, Skype, and your phone’s own video chat function. Facebook is no longer content to just be a social media—it wants the entire world of communication.
And for better or for worse, it is actually succeeding. Facebook has about one billion users on Messenger. Of those users, about 300 million are using Instant Video each month. That’s about the same number of people who have Skype accounts. If Facebook’s goal was to put a knife in the heart of Skype, it’s taken a step towards doing just that. It’s working its way to ending Snapchat’s domination of instant, quick communications, with Instant Video.
If any social media was poised to be able to cut traditional calling out of the picture, Facebook is that network. Of all social media, Facebook provides people with the most complete contact list. People are friends with not just their real life friends, but their family, their coworkers, their acquaintances. Using this feature, people will be able to connect with just about anyone and they will not even have to ask for their phone number. It goes beyond the limitations of your contact list and is actually more likely to be used than apps like Skype, because people are already in the app, talking to their friends, sharing pictures, and even sharing GIFs now. People already live in this app and now it has given them the ability to chat face to face with the people who they could only send text and images to before.
Real time communications are nothing new—they’ve been around since the invention of the telegraph. Instant video adds the ability to stream video right into your Messenger chat. All you have to do is to tap the little video icon now added to all Messenger chats, and you will start sharing real time video with that person, as long as they have the same Messenger conversation open. According to Facebook’s press release about the feature, audio is off by default, but can be turned on by the person receiving the livestream. It even allows you to continue your text conversation during the stream and to send your own live video, while the other person is live streaming—not unlike a FaceTime or Skype call. But instead of having to leave your Messenger conversation to place that call, it is happening in the same space.
Facebook touts this feature as a way to be “in person” at events you would otherwise miss, allowing you to expand the sphere of your everyday life.
Published on September 14, 2016
About the Author: Chris Williams
