Facebook’s NEW “Messages” features were announced this week surrounded by much anticipation and hoopla. It appears that Facebook is finally diving full-steam ahead on becoming an all-in-one communication hub which includes a complete email service.
For those that choose to create a @facebook.com email address, the new Messages area will combine your daily interactions into a central place to view and control Facebook direct messages, chats, texts and now email.
The Facebook help page goes on to explain a few of the added features that members can now enjoy. These include:
- Faster interaction: If you want, you can send messages just by hitting your Enter key, so the new Messages is as fast (and as informal) as an in-person conversation.
- Integrated communication: No matter what you’re using to communicate (Facebook, mobile or email), your conversation streams quickly and seamlessly into one place.
- Smart filtering: You’ll always see what’s important to you first – messages from the people you’re close to take precedence over mailing lists.
- Revamped search: Search for either the person you were talking with or what you were talking about to quickly find your message and all the related context.
- Adding people to group conversations: Loop new people into the conversation, giving them full access to everything that’s been said so far.
- Forwarding: Pass individual messages along to other friends.
- Unsubscribing, or removing yourself from a conversation: Leave a group conversation when you no longer wish to receive new messages.
- Sending attachments: In addition to sending links, photos and videos, you can now attach external files to your messages.
Facebook’s new email alternative is being hailed as a “reinvention of the inbox” and the“Gmail killer.” True, with over 500 million users already on Facebook, the idea of rolling in a complete email service seems like an instant win. No more having to toggle between your mailbox server to communicate with colleagues and your social media screen to contact your friends on Facebook.
However, one of the main problems that some are pointing to is that about 16% of companies who use OpenDNS, which is a security and network tools service, are still blocking the use of Facebook from work computers. One might quickly ask what good the email service is if it can’t be read or accessed from work? But one thing is for certain, this move in the direction of consolidating a user’s social networking with email capabilities shows Facebook’s general plan to be a “one stop shop” for the world’s communication.
