Facebook Launches Standalone Messenger App On Web

This article originally appeared on 60 Second Social.

Facebook has rolled out a web browser version of its messenger app earlier this week. It can be found at messenger.com and is completely separate from the main Facebook website. It has the same barebones and minimal look as the mobile app however unlike the mobile app, Facebook says it is not going to force the new service onto users.

Facebook got a lot of flak last year when it attempted to force users to download the Messenger app and people claimed they were being forced to download another Facebook app against their will. However in the end Facebook prevailed and there are now more people using the Facebook messenger app than ever before on a regular basis.

The social media giant says there are no plans to split the web platform in two which means you will still have the option and the ability to keep using messenger on the main Facebook website. A Facebook spokesperson said web Messenger is meant only as an additional option that’s free of the distractions of the rest of the Facebook site.

Facebook announced at F8 this year, its annual developers conference, that Messenger has big plans to be a communication hub and would start to allow integration with third party developers. It will be interesting to see where exactly Facebook plans to take messenger further down the line and just how big they wanted it to be in the Facebook ecosystem.

About The Author

Mark is the founder of 60 Second Social media where he provides social media news and digital marketing analysis. You can follow him on Twitter here. You can also follow 60 Second Social on Twitter here. Or you can drop Mark an email at, daltomark@me.com