According to a couple of Meta support pages that were inconspicuously changed, Instagram and Facebook’s messaging services will no longer be cross-compatible beginning in mid-December.
The Verge noticed the changes and reported that when the feature is removed, you will no longer be able to start new cross-platform chats, and current discussions between services will become read-only.
It is unknown when the pages were modified; however, the notification was visible on Instagram as of November 21st.
Meta spokesperson Alex Dziedzan confirmed the change to The Verge: “A few years ago, we introduced a new Messenger experience in Instagram DMs which enabled people to message and call a FB account (Messenger) from an Instagram account and vice versa. Starting in mid-December, we will begin removing this feature.”
However, there is a theory that connecting Meta’s services would make a possible split of Facebook, Instagram, and, eventually, WhatsApp more difficult, noted the report. This comes as Meta is dealing with strict new EU antitrust rules.
Ariel Ben Solomon is the Growth and Strategy manager at Ecomhunt. He is the host of the Ecomhunt Podcast. Can be followed on Twitter at @ArielBenSolomon
