A series of updates and tweaks are being introduced to the Facebook Messenger and Instagram apps, with cross-app group chats being a major source of conversation.
Cross-app group chats have already been around for a while, since users could send messages from Messenger to users on Instagram, and vice versa. However, these were only one on one, and therefore limited. Starting from today, however, users will finally be able to create groups chats that span across both chatting platforms and contacts. It's a small update, but so important considering just how much apps such as Messenger rely on users being actively social. After all, the most social a person can be is via group chats. This new update is one that will certainly prod users a bit more towards relying on either platform for group texts.
This isn't the only new feature to be introduced to Facebook's messaging platforms. Instagram's going to be borrowing a couple of leaves from Messenger's book moving onwards. The first of these is the introduction of polls to Instagram's chat. Polls have been a fun part of Messenger for quite a while now, and can prove to be useful and efficient for larger groups. As Instagram further fortifies its messaging features (video chats have only recently been added), users can now utilize polls on larger groups as well. With the previous cross chat feature in mind, such additions only further incentivize users to rely more on Instagram's chat functionality.
Users will also now be able to utilize Messenger's Watch Together feature to view content on Instagram, such as Reels and IGTV videos. This is both another way of tying the two platforms together a bit more tightly, and also introducing more FaceTime-esque features into the mix. After all, FaceTime is an app that's becoming increasingly popular with younger generations, and older ones too, to an extent.
A couple of minor updates involve the addition of new themes and filters as well. A cottage core chat theme is now available on Messenger, which would on itself only be worthy of a light smile, but combined with the new line of astrology themes, seems humorous. Almost like Messenger's really looking forward to embracing the inner white woman embedded in the application's code. Jokes aside, it's a fun, if not generic, understanding of things that the youth are into nowadays.
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Cross-app group chats have already been around for a while, since users could send messages from Messenger to users on Instagram, and vice versa. However, these were only one on one, and therefore limited. Starting from today, however, users will finally be able to create groups chats that span across both chatting platforms and contacts. It's a small update, but so important considering just how much apps such as Messenger rely on users being actively social. After all, the most social a person can be is via group chats. This new update is one that will certainly prod users a bit more towards relying on either platform for group texts.
This isn't the only new feature to be introduced to Facebook's messaging platforms. Instagram's going to be borrowing a couple of leaves from Messenger's book moving onwards. The first of these is the introduction of polls to Instagram's chat. Polls have been a fun part of Messenger for quite a while now, and can prove to be useful and efficient for larger groups. As Instagram further fortifies its messaging features (video chats have only recently been added), users can now utilize polls on larger groups as well. With the previous cross chat feature in mind, such additions only further incentivize users to rely more on Instagram's chat functionality.
Users will also now be able to utilize Messenger's Watch Together feature to view content on Instagram, such as Reels and IGTV videos. This is both another way of tying the two platforms together a bit more tightly, and also introducing more FaceTime-esque features into the mix. After all, FaceTime is an app that's becoming increasingly popular with younger generations, and older ones too, to an extent.
A couple of minor updates involve the addition of new themes and filters as well. A cottage core chat theme is now available on Messenger, which would on itself only be worthy of a light smile, but combined with the new line of astrology themes, seems humorous. Almost like Messenger's really looking forward to embracing the inner white woman embedded in the application's code. Jokes aside, it's a fun, if not generic, understanding of things that the youth are into nowadays.
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