Some of you probably remember all the hub-bub when Facebook had a presentation announcing their new messaging system earlier this year. Many called it a "Gmail killer", but Facebook was very quick to reply with "This is not a replacement for email." At the end of the presentation, it was said the new system would go live ‘soon’ and be gradually rolled out.
Yesterday, I logged into my Facebook account and lo and behold, I get a notice that I should upgrade to the new messaging system. Knowing exactly what this was I obviously clicked ‘yes’.
The new Messages system will mark the first time I’ve ever said something positive about the Facebook site, because it actually does make things easier instead of driving you up a wall.
Previously, the way FB messages worked is that everything was in one huge long list using that forever-scrolling nonsense. Messages are now categorized into two categories, ‘Friends’ (the main view) and ‘Other’. Anything that you have replied to will appear in the Messages list instead of being lumped into that one ginormous forever-scroll thing. This actually works and is genuinely convenient. If you use FB at all, yes you will like this.
I have only two complaints about new Facebook messaging.
The first is something which I honestly don’t know is a system glitch or not. I was assigned an @facebook.com email address (the name you receive follows your username), so of course I sent an email to it from an outside address to see if it would show up in my FB account. It didn’t and bounced. I don’t know if this is because I just activated it, or if the email address can only be used by those that are registered FB users.
The second is something Gmail and Thunderbird (what I use) users have been enjoying for years, tags/labels. FB messaging doesn’t have the ability to do this, although I wish it did. It would be nice if messages followed ‘friend lists’ or ‘groups’, which would be a close equivalent.
Even with my complaints, FB messaging now is far more manageable. The system is as such where you’ll say to yourself, "Finally.. something that isn’t a complete mess in this system."
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