The much anticipated change of Facebook's messaging system was finally launched a few weeks ago. They are rolling out the new features to users in phases, I got the new system on my profile recently and I got around to testing it the other day. I am happy to report that it ain't too shabby!
The reason I was using was to send a few invites to people around Europe and North America. These are good friends but I don't keep in regular contact with them apart from on Facebook. Needless to say I had a number of email addresses for each person but thought it would be easier to just message them over Facebook – I know they will check their inboxes there.
I sent off three messages last night and got three replies by the morning, a 100% success rate. The new messaging center on Facebook was very useful, much quicker than I expected and giving a great overview of all messages.
Here are a few tips from me:
1. Claim your email address
The first thing you want to do is to claim the email of your Facebook vanity URL, or customzied domain name. (What, you don't have a vanity URL? Check out How to Personalize Your Facebook URL).
My vanity URL is facebook.com/jorgensundberg meaning my email address will now be jorgensundberg (@) facebook.com. Get in there early and claim this would be my advice (as early as you get it from Facebook that is).
2. One inbox for instant messages, texts and emails
This is Facebook's attempt at a social inbox. They allow you to send and receive text messages, instant messages and the regular messages all in one place. They could easily allow you to get your LinkedIn and Twitter messages here as well but I don't think that'll happen anytime soon. Make the most of this and set up your dashboard according to your normal communications, the only difference is that it is mainly from within Facebook.
3. Use Facebook as external email
Some say Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo and the likes will be phased out in favor of Facebook's new emails. I'm not sure of this but the big F do have 600 million users on their books so it definitly could happen. All you do is type in the emal address of anyone in the To: field and Facebook will deliver it like a normal email. If you don't have a web mail already, consider using the Facebook email instead. And if you are using anything but Gmail, consider the new Facebook email as well as it's the only one that has the same promise.
4. The need for speed
Do you like sending quick messages? Sick of having to click that send button with the mouse? With the new messaging system you will notice that it's almost like instant messaging, when you hit Enter you send the message straight away. I think this is brilliant, it saves time and encourages everyone to send shorter and more to the point messages. This faster system was apparently a result of school kids telling Mark Zuckerberg they prefer texting as Facebook's messages were "too slow".
5. Send attachments
You are now able to attach files to your messages on Facebook. This means you can send a document, picture or zip file to friends. Again, this is part of Facebook's push to become a 'real' email provider. Let's see if they can offer 8 gb of storage as well like Gmail one day!
6. Use the threads and search function
Every message that you send back and forth to you friends will be threaded (just like Disqus comments on some blogs or Gmail messages). This means you can keep track of conversation over time; useful when you are not replying to messages on a daily basis. Within the Facebook Messages system you can search for people, keywords and topics. This is similar to Gmail where you can find most things from the Inbox toolbar without having to trawl through old emails.
7. Add your phone details
I added my mobile phone to Facebook the other day. Not sure if it was a great thing to do as every message sent over Facebook sends a text ping to my BlackBerry. This can of course be useful for some folks who need realtime updates. By adding your phone details you let friends send you free text messages straight from Facebook, which can be handy when you are out of WiFi or mobile internet coverage.
Conclusion
Much to my surprise, I have found myself using the new messaging functions on Facebook. It's been very useful and reminds me a great deal of Gmail in its heyday. The great benefit of Facebook messaging is the fact that most our friends are already on here, I predict this to take off over the next 12 months – watch this space (especially if your name is Google).
What do you think of the new Facebook messaging system?
If you prefer Google's version of emails, see How To Declutter Your Emails with Gmail.
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