The Facebook messenger debacle.

Facebook has been making the rounds, well, on Facebook in regard to their messenger and what it does or doesn’t do. This morning I had a post, front and center on the Facebook app attempting to clarify our misconceptions. I have read quite a few different viewpoints on this topic, and have decided to keep the app on my phone.

Facebook provides us with an awesome platform, a platform where even our parents are entertained. My mom uses Facebook, not only to connect with us, but for hours of nonstop, thrilling entertainment on Farmville! Think about it, this is all provided for free. Sure, they place ads on the site, but what do you expect? Facebook is a business like any other. How can you get mad at these guys for trying to make money?

This brings me to their messenger mess! Facebook is a business, a business that is owned by an intelligent businessman. Mark Zuckerberg has seen what happens to these sites after some time. Look at friendster, MySpace, migente, blackplanet, and so many others. They have come and gone, then faded into obscurity. Only to then be replaced by the next hot thing! Hmm, the next hot thing. What ever could that be?

Twitter is around, but they have failed to capture the folks like my mom. I doubt that they ever will. The interests are just different, and Twitter doesn’t have Farmville! Google plus is also around, and they too have failed to capture the Facebook loyal. As far as I know, they also do not have Farmville. So what’s it going to be?

Facebook isn’t going to wait around to find out. Look at BlackBerry messenger, another phenomenal app in it’s time, but by insisting on being BlackBerry specific, they failed to conquer the market. Soon whatsapp came out, as did wechat, and so on. Eventually, BlackBerry released a messenger that is cross platform, but by that time the other boys had already filled the void that they created. Too little too late.

Zuckerberg and team recognize the need to spread their eggs in different baskets. They know that Facebook may not be the king forever. That would explain their acquisitions, Instagram, whatsapp, and the many smaller takeovers. It also explains why they are starting to break up the Facebook functions. You know, like messenger. As a business, it makes perfect sense. They are making it so that even if one element of the company starts to falter, they still have a power base elsewhere. They are doing the opposite of BlackBerry, sort of.

I don’t think there is some evil plot to monitor you via your phone’s camera or microphone. Really, all apps that make video and take pictures need access to that space. It’s part of the functionality. What the strategy is, long term for Facebook, especially with messenger and whatsapp remain a mystery to me, but I’m sure they have some clever scheme to leverage and combine the products.

All that being said, I am not worried about the app spying on me. If you are concerned about big brother monitoring your moves, then you have bigger things to worry about in this country, ladies and gentlemen. However, that is a topic for my other platforms, not Nyctalking.

Have you uninstalled the app over the noise being made?

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