This week, Facebook unveiled its new Messages which unifies the messages received by email, SMS, chat, and Facebook messages into one location.
Currently, to use the new Social Inbox, you have to be invited. Any user who wants to use Messages can get an @facebook.com.
The Features
One-Stop-Shop – With email, chats, SMS, and direct messages all in one place, those social media addicts who love to know what’s happening at any time of day can get their info easily without logging on to multiples accounts.
Really Simplified – Users no longer have a To:, CC:, and BCC: line. They just type in names and they are included in the conversation. Whether this is a plus or minus, depends on the user. This is theoretically supposed to occur in real time, according to Facebook.
Threaded Conversations – All conversations between you and the contacts will appear in the form of a threaded conversation, whether it is an SMS, chat, Message, or email. You’ll be able to maintain a history of all conversation exchanged. You can leave a thread and start a new one.
Getting Social – The Social Inbox will show messages only from your friends and their friends in your inbox. Messages from people not on Facebook appear in an “Other” folder. You also have the ability to filter what shows up in your inbox by sender.
The bug buzz question is whether Facebook can really take on the Gmail giant, which is known for its speed and searchability. But really, are Facebook and Gmail going after the same market? Facebook still remains essentially a social network, while Gmail is a full-blown emailing service, which utilizes Google’s search engine manpower.
How many people will really abandon their Gmail accounts for Facebook Messages accounts?
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Tags: chat, email, Facebook, SMS, social inbox
