Facebook Messenger Reaches New Milestone: 800 Million Monthly Active Users
Facebook Messenger has reached another milestone and this time it is a really big one. There are now 800 million active monthly users who love and use the app. Messenger has only been around for four years now and everyone is using it these days. This is because it is more than just a messenger app; more functionalities have been added to the platform in recent months, and Facebook plans to add more this year.
USA Today reports that Messenger isn’t your usual chat messaging app. People can also book their rides with Uber on it, as of December, 2015. The vice president of Facebook who oversees the Messenger app, David Marcus has a lot more things he wants to see the Messenger do. However, for now, with the Messenger reaching 800 million monthly active users, Marcus is over the moon with this huge, new milestone. The latest number is a definite jump from 100 million monthly active users six months ago.
However, it isn’t just these numbers that has Marcus over the moon. It is what he is planning for Messenger coming soon that has him excited. According to the former Paypal president, Marcus posted in his blog about the milestone Messenger has reached and what he wants to do in the coming months to bring even more users.
Yes, the numbers are huge, but this is just a another milestone Messenger has reached, and with the things that Marcus and his gang have planned for the Facebook Messenger, this messaging app might very well end up the biggest mobile platform to end all rival messaging platforms.
As USA Today and Marcus’ blog post report, the plan is to make Messenger the best way to not just keep in contact with friends and family, but to also communicate with merchants. What does this mean? It means that Marcus plans on making Messenger your one-stop shop when it comes to shopping online. You can already book a ride with Uber through Messenger, but what if you could also book a flight with an airline, and if that airline was having delays, you could communicate with the airline representative to book a different flight? Well, that will be happening sooner than later because sometime later this quarter, Facebook will be making a deal with KLM Airlines so users can be able to do this.
In fact, Marcus even demonstrated what it would be like to be able to do this while you are on Messenger. Instead of going over to another platform, you can just stay logged into Messenger and book your flight there while speaking to a representative in case something goes wrong with your flight and you need to book another one.
According to Wired, Marcus plans on making 2016 the year for Messenger. As it stands right now, Messenger is the second best app of all time, only second to Facebook itself. The only other messaging app that is bigger than Messenger right now is WhatsApp, and that is only by 100 million active users. Not only this, but Facebook owns WhatsApp as well.
With having 800 million monthly active users currently for Messenger, it stands to show why Facebook is looking to expand the app for users to have more interaction with merchants.
There are already a lot of things users can do with Messenger, and they include chatting with friends and family with text, video, and even voice calls; track packages and receipts; shop online; send money to friends and family; and, if you are one of the lucky beta testers, you might even be able to use Messenger as a virtual assistant like Siri.
Marcus has big plans to make Messenger the place for everything you need to get done. If this happens, why would you ever want to leave Facebook?
What do you think of the big changes coming to Facebook Messenger? What do you think of the 800 million monthly active users? Sound off with your opinion in the comments section and let everyone know what you think about the future of Messenger.
(Photo credit: AP)
