10 tricks you did not know that Facebook Messenger could do

Newsflash for all of those who have been preaching that Facebook is dead – it is not. Facebook has just released their Q1 earning which out preformed analyst expectation.

Facebook revenue is up to $5.38 billion, an increase of 52% YOY (year-over-year) with revenue from advertising up 57% YOY as the 1.09 billion active daily users click around their timelines. Out of the 1.65 billion monthly active users, 894 million are accessing Facebook through their mobile device and those mobile users are responsible for 82% of the company’s ad revenue.

Clearly Facebook’s emphasis on mobile is paying off as people spend 50 minutes per day using Facebook apps – excluding WhatsApp.

One of the underrated apps is Facebook Messenger which fell out of favor with user when it was split off from the main Facebook app and required its own download which apparently is just one app too many… For those who did not download Messenger here is what you have been missing as the app has matured and is no longer a simple messaging app.

10 tricks you did not know Facebook Messenger could do

1. Standalone website:

On the desktop, you can access messenger from within your main Facebook page which appears in a little pop-up window. However, if you don’t want your boss to see that you are spending your time on Facebook, you can head over to Messenger.com and log in with your Facebook username and have full access to your chats and contacts.

You can even continue your chats from your cell phone on your desktop or visa versa.

2. Location Sharing:

If you don’t know where you are but need to tell someone how to get to you, you can share your location using Messenger app. For those who are “fashionably late” they can send their location to show that they are indeed “almost there” – you know who you are…

To share your location, just open the chat, tap the 3-dots and choose Location.

3. Need to get there ?

Now that you have the location, if you need a quick way to get to the destination, just summon an Uber or a Lyft. From within the Messenger chat, just select the 3-dots and choose Transportation to order your preferred method of transportation.

4. Dropbox Links:

Instead of sending files via email, you can send files to the person you are chatting to directly from Dropbox from within Messenger.

Select the 3-dots and choose Dropbox.

5. Bitmoji, Draw Something and Other Apps:

There are a host of apps that can be installed to work within Messenger so that you can waste time (I mean work hard) with your friends. There are apps like Ditty to make stupidly awesome music videos and QuizChat to take a quiz and Memes to spice up the conversation.

Select the 3-dots and choose the app you want to install.

You can also play chess by simply typing @fbchess and the chess board will appear.

6. May Payments:

If you want to send some money to a friend, you can do it by selecting Payments from the 3-dots menu and choose to either send money or request money.  You will need to link your credit card to the messenger app first before you could use this facility as Facebook need to know where to get the money from. Obvs.

7. Record Video and Voice::

Instead of just typing, you can send a short video or voice note which you record by pressing the camera button or the microphone button. This is a great way to share a song that has just played on the radio or a safer way to communicate if you are in a position that you are not suppose to be using your phone – like your car.

8. Make Voice and Video calls:

Messenger allow you to use make calls to other Messenger users and talk to them as you normally would on your mobile phone. If you would like to see them, you can do that too by making Video call. This uses data and not air-time minutes.  If I am using my Android phone, I cant use Facetime, so this is a great alternative.

The options for Voice or Video calls are the top of the chat.

9. 50 Group Stuff:

You can have a group chat with up to 50 people but what is also impressive is that you can have a voice chat with up to 50 people (note: I have not tested that feature but that’s what the documentation says).

10. Did you get the message ?

When you send a message in Messenger you can tell the stat of the message:

• Blue Circle  = message is sending
• Blue Circle with a tick = message has been sent
• Blue Circle with tick that is filled in blue = message has been delivered
• See your contact profile pic = message has been read

So why use Facebook Messenger ?

Texting is still the preferred one-to-one quick-communication method, however as more features are becoming available, such as video and voice calling, then the hunt for the universal platform becomes harder and more fragmented.

If 894 million people are using Facebook through their cell phone on a monthly basis, it is pretty safe to assume that if you are trying to communicate with people across all operating systems, then this is a good platform to do it on.

Facebook Messenger could be that universal platform leveraging of its Facebook community of 1.65 billion monthly users.