Meta to Disconnect Key Facebook Messenger Feature For Some Users

Meta has announced plans to change a feature that will affect how users communicate across its platforms including Facebook and Instagram.

How Meta Is Changing Messenger

Meta currently allows users message each other regardless of the platform they are using that is under the company's umbrella. For example, a Facebook user could see a message from Instagram without opening a second app.

It's an ideal feature for companies and brands that are juggling a high volume of consumer and fan feedback through multiple accounts.

According to an article posted today on Yahoo Finance, Meta is ready to disconnect this capability later this month.

"Meta will soon remove a feature that lets you chat with Facebook friends on Instagram," the article reports. "Starting mid-December, the company will disconnect the cross platform integration, which it added in 2020."

How Will This Change Affect Facebook And Instagram Users?

Details of the planned disconnection of the cross-platform feature were recently posted in Instagram's help center. Users should expect the following once this change happens later this month:

• No new calls or messages from Instagram users to Facebook users.
• Existing chats with Facebook will move to "read only."
• Facebook accounts will not be able to see if an Instagram user has read their message or the users' activity status.

The impact of this move by Meta will likely not affect many users who mostly message others on one platform.

The company has not released any information regarding why messaging capability across platforms is being eliminated. The Yahoo Finance article suggests the move could have been prompted by the European Union's Digital Markets Act that was passed last year as a way to keep digital platform holders from turning into monopolies.

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"If a company passed a revenue threshold and the European Commission deems the platform overly dominant, it can dole out a maximum penalty of 10 percent of its total global turnover from the previous year," the article says.