Ever emailed anyone on an “@facebook.com” email address? Doubtful, which is a good indication that Facebook made the right move. Today, the social giant announces they are updating their email service, but the change effectively ends the service altogether. Meant as a way to stand out, the @facebook.com email got lost in a sea of sameness.
In an email about the update, which was first reported by The Verge, Facebook admits “Most people have not been using their @facebook.com email address”. Launched in 2010, the service went largely dormant, but let’s face it — an email is an email, and we didn’t expect much. Meant to differentiate connection from the spam and other junk you may get in your day-to-day email, the @facebook.com never really caught on. It was just plain easier and better to use a dedicated email service.
The update will forward any email you get in your @facebook.com email account to the primary email address Facebook has on file, and avoid your Facebook message service altogether. That effectively makes the service little more than a go-between, likely giving you time to notify people of your regular email instead of the buffer zone you may have enjoyed with them. the update will probably be a precursor to shuttering the service altogether, which we’d expect to happen in a few months’ time.
What will Facebook do with no email service to ignore? “Focus on improving our mobile messaging service for everyone”. By avoiding email notifications in the service, we expect Facebook is working on a sweeping change to the service. Or, you know, cobbling it/us into WhatsApp.
Being forced to use WhatsApp? No.