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There was competition and FB used their war chest to buy them all, sans messenger. They forced people to download messenger to see FB messages on mobile. They a

by wil421 7y ago

There was competition and FB used their war chest to buy them all, sans messenger. They forced people to download messenger to see FB messages on mobile. They also lied and said you had a message when you really didn’t. Just to force the messenger download.

mhluongo 7y ago
Didn't they acquire Messenger as well? I think it was called Beluga
- wil421 7y ago
  I’m not sure about the mobile app itself. I do know they rebranded messages in Facebook to become Messenger. Basically you had to access private messages inside Messenger.
- dehrmann 7y ago
  No, it was split out from the main app: https://www.vox.com/2014/8/7/11629664/facebook-messenger-split https://www.vox.com/2014/8/7/11629664/facebook-messenger-spl... > The move allows Facebook developers to focus more exclusively on features and improvements for each individual app. Of course, it also requires users to download another Facebook property onto their smartphones, a not-so-subtle way for the company to increase app downloads. I found this on Beluga, but it smells of an acquihire and rewrite, and predates the split by a few years: https://www.adweek.com/digital/beluga-facebook-messenger/ https://www.adweek.com/digital/beluga-facebook-messenger/
  - mhluongo 7y ago
    The article you posted is about how Beluga was turned into Messenger...
- skinnymuch 7y ago
  Beluuga was a pretty basic app. Sure they acquired that. But Messenger is mostly and created by Facebook. Especially because Facebook Chat was already around.
justapassenger 7y ago
Instagram was small app for hipsters, and everyone thought Facebook was crazy to pay $1B for it. They weren’t a competition by any means, and would (speculation) most likely die if they didn’t tap into Facebook resources. WhatsApp was only real big competition Facebook bought so far.
- adjkant 7y ago
  > They weren’t a competition by any means, and would (speculation) most likely die if they didn’t tap into Facebook resources What's your reasoning for that? I think pre-WhatsApp acquisition most people would argue that Facebook would have died if it did not acquire Instagram...
mgalgs 7y ago
I'm forced to use messenger for work but have refused to download the mobile app for this reason. Voting with my download count.
- farisjarrah 7y ago
  Ouch, forced to use Facebook for work... Thats rough... My last company ALMOST used Facebook for enterprise like 3 years ago when they were advertising it... So glad it was a flaming pile of garbage when we tested it out.
  - mgalgs 7y ago
    > Ouch, forced to use Facebook for work... Thats rough... Yeah the worst part is that I can't tell my boss to screw off because it's my company :D We do some customer support on Facebook because so many of our users are there, otherwise I wouldn't be touching it with a 12 foot pole either.
Lammy 7y ago
> They also lied and said you had a message when you really didn’t. Just to force the messenger download. I bet the line of reasoning is that the message notification is for the upsell telling you how great Messenger is.

by wil421 7y ago

mhluongo 7y ago

Didn't they acquire Messenger as well? I think it was called Beluga

wil421 7y ago
I’m not sure about the mobile app itself. I do know they rebranded messages in Facebook to become Messenger. Basically you had to access private messages inside Messenger.
dehrmann 7y ago
No, it was split out from the main app: https://www.vox.com/2014/8/7/11629664/facebook-messenger-split https://www.vox.com/2014/8/7/11629664/facebook-messenger-spl... > The move allows Facebook developers to focus more exclusively on features and improvements for each individual app. Of course, it also requires users to download another Facebook property onto their smartphones, a not-so-subtle way for the company to increase app downloads. I found this on Beluga, but it smells of an acquihire and rewrite, and predates the split by a few years: https://www.adweek.com/digital/beluga-facebook-messenger/ https://www.adweek.com/digital/beluga-facebook-messenger/
- mhluongo 7y ago
  The article you posted is about how Beluga was turned into Messenger...
skinnymuch 7y ago
Beluuga was a pretty basic app. Sure they acquired that. But Messenger is mostly and created by Facebook. Especially because Facebook Chat was already around.

justapassenger 7y ago

Instagram was small app for hipsters, and everyone thought Facebook was crazy to pay $1B for it. They weren’t a competition by any means, and would (speculation) most likely die if they didn’t tap into Facebook resources. WhatsApp was only real big competition Facebook bought so far.

adjkant 7y ago
> They weren’t a competition by any means, and would (speculation) most likely die if they didn’t tap into Facebook resources What's your reasoning for that? I think pre-WhatsApp acquisition most people would argue that Facebook would have died if it did not acquire Instagram...

mgalgs 7y ago

I'm forced to use messenger for work but have refused to download the mobile app for this reason. Voting with my download count.

farisjarrah 7y ago
Ouch, forced to use Facebook for work... Thats rough... My last company ALMOST used Facebook for enterprise like 3 years ago when they were advertising it... So glad it was a flaming pile of garbage when we tested it out.
- mgalgs 7y ago
  > Ouch, forced to use Facebook for work... Thats rough... Yeah the worst part is that I can't tell my boss to screw off because it's my company :D We do some customer support on Facebook because so many of our users are there, otherwise I wouldn't be touching it with a 12 foot pole either.

Lammy 7y ago

> They also lied and said you had a message when you really didn’t. Just to force the messenger download. I bet the line of reasoning is that the message notification is for the upsell telling you how great Messenger is.