Facebook Messenger Turns 10 – Rolls Out New Features

Facebook Messenger (also known as Messenger) is celebrating a decade of chat threads, video calls, GIFs, and audio notes with an “epic” birthday bundle of 10 fresh functions. Among the fresh new offerings is a way to send and receive cash gifts, as well as a way to create polls in group chats. All these fresh functionalities are being rolled out in commemoration of Messenger turning 10. Loredana Crisan, Facebook’s VP of Messaging Products, in a blog post said “Over the last 10 years, we’ve seen tremendous growth and transformation, but our purpose has stayed the same: to help people stay closely connected to those who matter.”

Facebook said in a blog post “We’ve pulled together an epic birthday bundle of 10 product features — many of which are starting to roll out today — that will help you create more memories with your friends and family.” Whether deciding where to go for dinner or which movie to watch, Messenger attempts to make the group decisions easier using polls. In a festive twist on the feature, users can now play “Most likely to” in polls, “to help you discover what your friends really think” about things like who’s most likely to give gifts on their own birthday, fight zombies while everyone else runs away, or miss their flight.

To play a poll game in your group chat, tap Polls and select the Most Likely To tab; choose one of Facebook’s questions or write your own prompt, then select the names of chat participants to be added as potential answers. The second feature is basically for users in the US, users can now receive cash gifts directly through Messenger. When a friend sends you a cash gift, you will be notified on Messenger. When you confirm your Facebook Pay details, the cash gift will be instantly deposited into your bank account. 

Facebook explains “To send a birthday cash gift, go to the Facebook mobile app and tap the button that appears alongside your friend’s birthday posts in your Facebook News Feed or their profile.” As the new features are in commemoration of Messenger’s birthday, Facebook is adding many birthday-themed tools to the app, among is a specially curated “Messenger is 10!” sticker pack. This sticker pack features the company’s 10 favorite stickers from various artists, including a green alien, hugging bananas, and a smiling heart. This will help users get into the celebratory mood. Facebook says “Fill the sky with purple and blue balloons with our Birthday Balloon 360 background and blow out birthday candles with our Birthday AR effect.”

Another amazing feature the company is rolling out is, the ability to share contacts with friends through Messenger. In other to utilize this feature, users have to simply select the contact they want to share, access the chat settings, and tap “Share Contact” under the “More Actions” section. Facebook also took the occasion to give a preview of its coming ‘Word Effects’ option, “an exciting new way to pair words with the emojis that have meaning to you and your friends”. Basically, it will throw up an emoji to be paired with a certain word or term. “When used in your conversation, these words will trigger a delightful cascade of the emoji you selected,” said Facebook. As Facebook Messenger is celebrating a decade of chat threads by rolling out fresh features, it’s nothing short of exciting for users