Facebook is becoming more aggressive in its push of its own Messenger mobile app with the company with tech critics saying that it has becoming increasingly complicated for Android users just to view messages in the mobile site UI.
To check, your messages, users are redirected to a Google Play page where you can download the Messenger app, the Android Police reported. Once he browser will then show an ominous message:
For a user to be able to chat, the user has to jump back to the mobile browser so you can see the conversation list. After that, you will be rerouted again to the Messenger Play Store page. Only then will you be able to read and send messages, Techno Buffalo reported.
The message implies that Facebook will soon be phasing out one of the reasons of its popularity among smartphone and tablet users.
In other news, the Palo Alto, California-based social networking company was saved from a potential press relations nightmare after a professor denied saying that Facebook was "listening" to your private conversations, the BBC News reported.
Prof. Kelli Burns, a social media analytics expert employed by the University of South Florida, slammed reports that she suggested that Facebook is becoming a real-life Big Brother. She went viral after a statement she told the NBC-affiliated television station WFLA-TV was misinterpreted.
"I don't think that people realize how much Facebook is tracking every move we're making online," Burns said. "Anything that you're doing on your phone, Facebook is watching."
During the interview, Burns enabled her phone's microphone feature and talked about her desire to go on an African safari using a jeep. After a minute, she checked her Facebook and a story about a safari posted by her friend popped out. An ad for a car brand also appeared on her feed.
