Skip to main content

Facebook Messenger Eyes Non-Friend Conversations With Chat ID



Is that a message from some rando, a spammer, or the nice guy you met yesterday? Facebook Messenger wants to give you some clues before you consider responding. The app will now surface publicly shared biographical info like current city and job title at the top of message threads from people you haven’t chatted with before. The update starts rolling out today on iOS Android in U.S., U.K., France, and India.

For example, if you received a message from someone you’re not friends with, Messenger could show that they’re a “Food Blogger” from “Seattle.” That info could jog your memory, reminding you they’re the woman you met in the fish market on your recent trip to the Northwest. Knowing they’re someone you’ve actually met could make you a lot more likely to reply, and get the conversation going naturally rather than stumbling with “oh…hey…how did we meet again?”

Messenger can also pull up this kind of info for existing Facebook friends you’ve never messaged with before. Maybe your old high school friend just moved to your current city and got a job in your industry. That information could change your perception from “ugh, Nate from high school?” to “oh nice, Nate moved out west and we’re both bloggers.”

Whether it’s about non-friends or people you’ve already added, Messenger will only show you info that’s public or otherwise visible to you on Facebook, so it doesn’t sidestep privacy controls.

This new feature, which I’ll refer to as chat ID, follows Facebook’s release of Hello. That Android-only caller ID app intercepts your phone calls and can show you info visible to you on Facebook about the caller, or block it if it’s from a known spammer.

Together, the chat ID and caller ID features show Facebook’s growing interest in connecting you to and offering context about all the people in your life, not just your friends. That could help foster new friend connections on its social network. But it could also position Facebook as a bigger tool for your professional life as well.

In the past, Facebook has been touchy about messages from non-friends, in some cases routing them to the oft-forgotten Other inbox that’s typically filled with spam and weirdos. Most people don’t know about it, so while it protected people from unwanted advances, it’s also broken. A friend of mine actually missed a message from his long-lost brother because it went into Other purgatory.

Facebook tells me nothing is changing about how the Other inbox works, and you’ve been able to use Messenger to contact non-friends. Still, providing context on who’s pinging you could allow it to be more lenient about what messages hit your main inbox. That includes professional correspondence which probably shouldn’t be hidden.

The younger generation seems less dedicated to LinkedIn, which feels like it’s lagging behind when it comes to mobile and messaging. Facebook might be happy to fill in.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Build Your Own Awesome Personal 3D Avatar with Avatara

Do you use social networks and want to build your own awesome 3D avatar? Maybe you want to send someone a cute cuddly image of yourself (kind of)? Or maybe you have your own ideas of what you would do with an Avatar… Well look no further than Avatara which I discovered from the MakeUseOf directory . You can create 3d avatars out of pre-set up templates or create your own from scratch. To start, visit Avatara’s homepage . You will see this screen: Click Get Started to umm, get started! That will take you to this screen: You see that you can build your own Avatar using an uploaded head shot like the Obama one above (just an example, guys). Or roll with one of their awesome avatars. I chose to start with a blank avatar by clicking Start with a blank avatar at the bottom of the screen. That takes you to here: I clicked on the filter at the top and told it to filter out everything but male characters and then I saw this: I rolled with Buck and continued. You need to click Select...
1 comment
Read more

MoviePass drops pricing to under $7 per month, if you opt for the annual plan

MoviePass, the subscription service that lets consumers pay a monthly fee to see unlimited movies in theaters across the U.S., is slashing its prices yet again. The company announced today it’s now offering its service for $6.95 per month, down from the current price of $9.95 per month, when customers commit to a one-year subscription plan. That works out to a flat fee of $89.95 annually. The deal is a limited-time promotion, as opposed to a permanent pricing change, but MoviePass didn’t say how long the offer is valid. However, it is open to both new and existing subscribers – the latter who would receive a 25 percent savings on their current subscription if switching over to the annual plan. This is not the first time that MoviePass has dropped its pricing. When the company introduced its $9.95 per month, one-movie-per-day plan this August, down from $15 for 2 movies per month (or more in select markets like L.A. and NYC, and going as high as $50), it saw so many new sign-up...
2 comments
Read more

ASUS VivoBook X202E Windows 8 Touchscreen Laptop Review And Giveaway

It wasn’t very long ago when prices of touchscreen Windows 8 laptops soared beyond $1000. Thankfully, those days are behind us, and portable computers can easily be purchased – touchscreen and all – for under $500. That’s precisely the demographic in which the ASUS VivoBook X202E falls. When compared to a high-end laptop, its specifications might seem modest, but for laptop buyers just looking for a way to browse the web, watch videos, use basic apps, and not spend too much money, something in this budget is perfectly suitable. The question is, of course, how does the ASUS VivoBook X202E compare to others on the market, and is it the one which you should be spending your hard-earned money on? Well, you’re just going to have to keep reading to find out. Best of all, we are giving away an ASUS VivoBook X202E to one lucky winner. Keep reading for your chance to take home this Windows 8 touchscreen laptop! Introducing the ASUS VivoBook X202E Laptop The ASUS VivoBook X202...
Read more