Meta, previously known as Facebook, had introduced the feature to link its instant messaging service, Facebook Messenger, with Instagram three years ago, facilitating cross-platform messaging for users.
However, Meta has recently declared the cessation of the cross-chat functionality between Facebook Messenger and Instagram, effective from the middle of this December.
The integration between Facebook Messenger and Instagram, which allowed users to exchange messages seamlessly across the two platforms, will no longer be available, according to the company’s official support communications.
Instagram users will lose the capability to initiate new conversations with Facebook accounts or establish connections with them.
While existing conversations between users of both platforms will remain accessible, users will only be able to read the messages without the option to send new ones.
Additionally, Facebook accounts will no longer display the activity status of Instagram accounts, and any past chats with Facebook accounts will not be transferred to the Messenger inbox.
For those wishing to resume conversations with contacts on Messenger, they will need to use a Facebook account after the changes take effect.
The motivation behind Meta’s decision to implement these alterations remains undisclosed. However, speculations suggest a potential association with the Digital Markets Act enforced by the European Union, as part of Meta’s broader initiatives to comply with evolving regulations.
This legislation mandates major companies to enable interoperability between different messaging platforms.
There are also reports indicating that Meta is experimenting with the capability to receive messages from external messaging applications within the WhatsApp platform.
In recent times, Meta has made various adjustments to its Messenger service, including discontinuing support for SMS/MMS messages on Android and shutting down the Messenger Lite application.
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