Facebook Messenger Gets an Upgrade

We're announcing today that we're taking

a first stab at reinventing the Inbox.

So when you think about the Inbox,

like the Inbox has been the same

since the invention of the first early messaging system.

Like, even in the really early, early days,

it's always been this chronological list of threads,

and that's it, and that's a lot of real estate on mobile

to use for a thing where probably the first five threads

are relevant to you at any given point in time,

but then the rest has been taken care of

by really good search, and all kinds of different things,

and so we're taking a first stab

by launching a more modular Inbox

that, and it's basically called Home,

so it's your Home screen on Messenger.

We have units in this new Inbox

that enables you to get a lot more utility

from your Inbox than you currently get.

For instance, when using Messenger,

and this is something we're starting to roll out today,

so it'll take a few days or weeks

for everyone in this room to have it,

but you'll be able to see who's active right now.

So for a lot of people, actually finding

who of their friends are active on Messenger right now

is a great opportunity to have a conversation

if you're bored and you want to talk to someone.

You'll have a unit for birthdays,

so you'll know which of your close friends

have birthdays today and you can send them a message

and be a better friend.

You will have the ability to also have like a Favorites,

a Favorites unit where you can see the people

you talk to the most, so you can access them really quickly.

So those are the first series of units

inside of the Inbox, but gradually you are going to see

more of those units that will enable you

to discover the types of experiences

that you might be able to find on Messenger in the future,

but also most of your friends at the right time,

with the right contact.