Not one to do things by halves, Facebook has claimed the popularity of its Messenger app is sounding a death knell for the phone number
Not content with the scalps of Myspace, Bebo and dozens of other pretenders to the social network's crown, Facebook is looking to kill again, and this time it's a lot closer to home.
The days of the phone number are, quite literally numbered, thanks to the inexhorable rise of the company's Messenger app, according to David Marcus, Facebook's vice president of messaging products.
"Think about it: SMS and texting came to the fore in the time of flip phones. Now, many of us can do so much more on our phones; we went from just making phone calls and sending basic text-only messages to having computers in our pockets," Marcus wrote in a blog post.
Much like the days of the flip phones, our old methods of communication are dying. In their place a richer, more diverse method of communication has grown, he believes.
"With Messenger, we offer all the things that made texting so popular, but also so much more," he said. "Yes, you can send text messages, but you can also send stickers, photos, videos, voice clips, GIFs, your location, and money to people. You can make video and voice calls while at the same time not needing to know someone’s phone number."
Marcus has a point - you can use Messenger without even owning aFacebook account, and its cross platform nature appeals to those who regularly use desktops, tablets and mobiles. Whereas Facebook was once limited to our laptops, mobile internet innovation coupled with falling costs of internet access mean more people than ever before are communicating through internet-based messenger services (like Facebook-owned WhatsApp) over more traditional SMS.
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