Facebook Messenger service reaches 500 million users

Facebook Messenger service reaches 500 million users

Facebook, social networking giant said its new messaging service now has more than 500 million users worldwide. Users of the Facebook Messenger app have more than doubled from 200 million in April.

Facebook had faced a backlash after it announced it would be forcing users to download the app to send private messages to friends over the main Facebook service. Users started being pushed to download the app that was launched in July, 2011.

[blockquote cite=”Facebook’s director of Product Management Peter Martinazzi”] Messaging is an important part of how people stay connected and since Messenger launched in 2011 we’ve been passionate about giving people a faster and more expressive way to communicate.
[/blockquote] [blockquote cite=”Facebook’s chief executive Mark Zuckerberg “] Forcing people to install another app was “a short term painful thing”, but added that the benefit was that his firm could offer a “faster and more focused” experience.
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