Facebook is the new Snapchat, WeChat, Tango or even Vine, after it recently added a new video messaging feature to its iOS Messenger app that now lets its users shoot 15-second videos from within the app and send it to their friends.
Aside from that, a bigger icon for thumbs up was also included in the update. To do this, the user can press the “like” button and hold for a longer time, depending on how big he prefers the icon to be. The thumbs-up icons for “likes” are in small, medium and large sizes, which simply indicate how much the user likes something.
The release of these new features on the Messenger app for iOS came ahead of the “Slingshot” messaging app that remains quite a mystery till now. Research says this will be a standalone app, not in sync with the primary Facebook and Messenger app, and will give Snapchat a run for its money.
Facebook’s attempt to boost its social media business is no surprise. It was earlier reported that the company is seriously enhancing its messaging products by reinventing and updating applications. The Messenger app alone has over 200 million active users in a month.
To add to such efforts, Facebook also hired David Marcus, formerly PayPal president, to sit as its vice president (VP) for messaging products by June 27. Marcus reports directly to CEO Mark Zuckerberg as well as to Javier Olivan, who is also VP but for growth and analytics at Facebook. He is expected to come up with a business model for the Messenger service that will help the social media business earn revenue from such. His command does not include WhatsApp, however.
Recall that later in May, Facebook was also reported to have been working on updating its app for Android and iOS devices wherein users can share their favorite television shows or music through status updates. The said app will rely on the microphone of the mobile device to identify the content or media on play.
While the Facebook team has been busy boosting its business products, Zuckerberg has been beset by various lawsuits. The most recent of which involves a Facebook shareholder, Ernesto Espinoza, who accuses Zuckerberg of being too generous when it comes to employees’ compensation and other benefits in the form of stocks, which he calls as a waste of corporate assets. The company, on the other hand, says the lawsuit is without merit and will defend its stand in court.
