Ever since Facebook made the Messenger a stand-alone app which won’t require you to have a Facebook account to use, we’ve seen the social network giant slowly turning it into a legitimate messaging app that aims to rival other more popular ones like Viber, WhatsApp, Line, etc. Now they’re introducing a feature that will make it easier for people to find you and for you to connect people: Messenger Usernames, Links, and Codes.
Messenger supposedly has over 900,000,000 users right now, which means your name might not really be that unique. It will probably be pretty difficult to connect with someone you just met and tell him/her that your name on Messenger is John Smith. So now, you have several options of letting people know your Messenger account, without them having your phone number or searching through all the John Smiths in the app.
Messenger Codes is kind of like a QR code (but better designed) which people can scan with their mobile device and it will then lead to a conversation with you. It can be found in the settings of your Messenger profile and you can add it to your business card, website/blog, or share it with the new contact sitting beside you at a conference. If you feel like not sharing a code but rather a url or a unique name, you can also do so with Messenger Links and Messenger Usernames respectively.
With these new features, plus previously introduced ones like multiple log-ins, P2P payments, chat ID and opening up the platform to developers, it looks like Facebook is serious in its messaging game. They have also been experimenting with SMS and other things, so we can expect more features in the near future.
SOURCE: Facebook
