Instagram, WhatsApp is about to change its name: one step to strengthen Facebook’s control

According to a new report from The Information, Facebook is planning to rename its two famous applications, WhatsApp and Instagram, with the name Facebook placed at the center of these applications. Accordingly, these applications will now be called “WhatsApp from Facebook” and “Instagram from Facebook.”

After a report by The Information, a Facebook spokesman, Bertie Thomson also confirmed this change with Business Insider.

These new names will appear in the app store and in the app, even if they will not be displayed on the user’s Home screen. Thomson said: ” We want to make it clear that these products and services are part of Facebook .”

This is an unexpected change, though it may seem controversial. In the past two years, the Facebook brand has lost a lot of sympathy when it was constantly caught up in a series of scandals, while WhatsApp and Instagram are still safe beyond these crises.

For years, this $ 535 billion company has been content with keeping a wide range of applications in its arms, but still letting them act as independent groups with considerable autonomy. Recently, however, Facebook is trying to focus its control, sometimes causing tension and anxiety among employees.

In the past few years, many of the co-founders of Instagram and WhatsApp have all left Silicon Valley’s tech giant, with reports showing increased tension between them and Mark Zuckerberg as the CEO strengthens. integrate these services together. Instagram and WhatsApp are now closely linked to Facebook, with an ambitious, multi-year plan to allow users to send messages between these applications and Messenger.

In June, a report from Business Insider showed that Facebook is asking the employees of WhatsApp, Instagram and VR Oculus equipment to switch to email with @ fb.com, instead of the dedicated addresses for each product. products like before. This is another indication of Facebook’s efforts to consolidate these individual products together.

Facebook is also facing an antitrust investigation from the US Trade Commission FTC, focusing on the history of acquiring other applications (like Instagram and WhatsApp) as well as whether these moves are anti-behavior. Do you compete again? Integrating these applications together can avoid an antitrust lawsuit – but how it affects users is still a consideration.

Refer to Business Insider