4 ms·
Wouldn't it be wise for Facebook to just replace Messenger with WhatsApp and offer that as a platform?
by nns 11y ago
Wouldn't it be wise for Facebook to just replace Messenger with WhatsApp and offer that as a platform?
- vlunkr 11y agoI'm confused about this as well. Why are they choosing to compete with themselves?
- BorisMelnik 11y agofrom what I am reading they consider it a different market segment and are thus, pivoting.
- eitally 11y agoTwice as many chances for success! :)
- daptaq 11y agoIs it really competition though? You choose A, Facebook wins. You choose B, Facebook wins. I believe WhatsApp and FB Messenger are the two top chat networks right now (sadly), at least when looking at regional dominance. And since the value of a network to the individual is dependant on the size, AND they're locked up, they win whatever you choose. You might loose because you chose the network with less friends, but that changes nothing in the end.
- thewhitetulip 10y agoHow is this not different from the strategy MS used to follow either kill opponents or buy them? How did the anti trust dept of US allow whatsapp acquisition since it literally made FB king of everything digital?
- Spivak 10y agoMostly because they still have tons of competitors in the messaging space and they're not leveraging their success in social networking to force success in messaging. I'm personally reachable from 10-15 different forms of messaging (and neither WhatsApp nor FB messenger), and most people probably have at least 4-5 so it's a really tough argument that because of Facebook users have to use WhatsApp or FB messenger.
- thewhitetulip 10y agoValid points, they aren't stiffling anyone, you can use others but since everyone is on whatsapp and facebook you have to use them.
- darkclarity 11y agoMerge stuff together and you get something clunky like Google+.
- loader 11y agoThey showed a graph in the keynote, WhatsApp for one-on-one communication, Messenger for small group communication. So they see them as different use cases.
- mooseburger 11y agoThat's hilarious. Everyone uses WhatsApp for their friend group.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- lazzlazzlazz 11y agoMaybe everyone that you know. Surely Facebook has the data to make a distinction like this.
- lallysingh 11y agoThey may not have that data in a form useful for comparison, and the data may conflict with your assumption. Intra business politics / desired integrations / engineering reasons can dissuade teams from a pure data-based decision.
- Scriptor 11y agoEveryone I know uses Messenger for group conversations. Anecdotes can go both ways. As far as I've been able to tell, WhatsApp is most popular outside of the US.
- lazzlazzlazz 11y agoFacebook and WhatsApp already have vastly different feature sets, and don't even work similarly (with regard to devices, etc.). That's by design.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- wodenokoto 11y agoI'm thinking that either they are really afraid of messing up WhatsApp like how the current and previous Skype owners messed up, or else it is part of the purchase deal to mainly stay out of WhatsApp. The whole end-to-end encryption on WhatsApp doesn't seem in the Facebook spirit at all.
- yeukhon 11y agoBut they can't really monetize chat by inserting ads. That would be a dumb thing to do, even if we assume most users don't care about privacy. Well, the reality is even those who don't really don't like having an AI spitting out an ad in the middle of your chat with friend.
- takno 11y agoMessenger works great for me and my friends group. Whatsapp seems largely redundant since we stopped bothering to swap numbers years ago
- kayoone 11y agoMessenger and WhatsApp are popular in different regions but combine both and you have the lions share of worldwide mobile chat users. For example, Messenger is much more dominant in the US, while WhatsApp is crazy popular in places like Brazil or Germany. So i guess they are just starting with the US market (Messenger) and will eventually offer similar stuff on WhatsApp.