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Facebook Messenger is testing a streaks feature to show users how long and how often they've been messaging their friends, Mashable reports.
The feature is a near replica to Snapchat’s streak counter, not only in function but also in appearance, with multiple emoji icons and a numbered counter that indicates how many consecutive days users have been chatting.
Here’s how streak features work:
- Streak counters gamify the app experience and can lead to insane engagement.They can be thought of as a way to score or quantify friendships and are a tried and tested way to keep people in-app. Snapchat has had enormous success retaining younger users in this regard, and these users sometimes go to great lengths to preserve their streaks with their friends.
- But they also have downsides — in terms of user experience and design ethics.The urge to maintain streaks can degrade the quality of communication as people begin to send each other spammy or pointless messages. Meanwhile, the social pressure and addictive behavior that stems from Snapstreaks have caused some critics to label it as an unethical app design.
Facebook Messenger streaks could arrive a timely moment:
- Messenger is ramping up on monetization, and keeping users in-app is key.Facebook began rolling out display ads in Messenger earlier this summer, and last year the company opened Messenger to promotional posts from branded chatbots. Messenger currently has 1.3 billion monthly users, and Facebook has to keep them in the app for these ad products to succeed.
- Snapchat appears to be stealing users away from Facebook-owned chat apps.On a given day, a majority (63%) of Snapchat users in the US don't use Messenger and an overwhelming share (92%) don't use WhatsApp, according to App Annie. Streaks in Messenger could discourage users from defecting to other apps, although Facebook is probably hoping the feature will lure users from Snapchat too.
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