There’s been much hubbub about Facebook messenger. Facebook launched this stand alone app several months ago and when their terms and conditions came out, privacy was a huge concern for many.
Facebook pushed people to download the separate app through various methods. You can no longer access your Facebook messages via the normal Facebook app. However, you can still see when you have a message. If you try to view it, for months, you were encouraged to download the app – and even shown all of your friends who have downloaded the app.
I have not downloaded the app. I didn’t love the terms of service but honestly, when you look at the rights that most of your apps have, games have terms of service that are just as scary. If you have downloaded game apps, chances are you’ve given up just as much of your privacy as you would to Facebook.
So, should you download Facebook messenger? For me, it’s still a no. In an era where we are insanely accessible, if someone really needs to get a hold of me, they can. They can text or tweet or post on my Facebook wall. They can even – heaven forbid – take the time to actually call me. This makes a stand alone Facebook messenger app simply one more way to suck up storage on my mobile devices. Since Facebook has made it required for me to download a separate app to manage my Facebook pages, I already have two Facebook apps on my phone. I do not see a dire need for a third.
Facebook seems to have come to the conclusion that those who are still holding out from downloading the messenger app are doing so due to privacy concerns. They’ve recently updated their push to download to tell me how much they care about privacy. However, they haven’t explained why they’re so eager for me to download this separate app. Simply getting Facebook messages immediately is not improving my user experience – I used to have that ability directly in the app. Plus, the messages still appear in my Facebook app, meaning that real estate has not been better utilized and my user experience is not improved. Until they can show me a true value proposition, the Facebook messenger app will remain off my list of mobile apps.
If you’re interested in getting your messages from friends even more quickly, it may be of interest to you. Read through the terms and conditions to be sure you’re comfortable with them (as you should with any app). If it makes your life easier, that’s awesome. But unless you’re conducting business via Facebook messenger, I don’t see it as a necessity.
I did download it because Facebook is such a huge part of my direct sales business. I use it to collect orders, follow up, troubleshoot, etc. When I’m not at work, I’m not on a computer. It’s very rare that I log on on weekends or days off, so being able to access messages is important. I do see the complaint, for sure, but there are other people who I’m connected to but not comfortable enough to give them my number to text.