We just got done watching the live broadcast by Facebook, as the company presented its new messaging system. Founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg began the presentation, focusing on the following topics:
- The need for immediacy in messaging.
- Simplicity of messaging.
- Overly formal process in emails today.
- Seamless messaging.
- Lack of “threads” in real-life conversations.
- Problem of spam in email.
The new Facebook product is “not email”, says Zuckerberg. He proposes that there should be integration across multiple platforms, a conversation history with a person, rather than a subject. He proposes a “Social Inbox”.
Here are the changes:
- Everyone will have an @facebook.com email address.
- The new messaging platform is modeled like a chat system.
- Conversations will be organized by the people you care about the most.
- Messages will be organized by “People”, “Other”, and “Junk”.
- “Other” refers to messages that users want to receive, but don’t want cluttering their inbox, which holds messages from people they care about.
- Integrates with other email platforms and SMS.
“This is not an email-killer,” says Zuckerberg, but the system will be able sync with email (via IMAP) and receive and send emails. The product will be rolled out via invite over the next few months.
