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Facebook vows to simplify Messenger in 2018

The company is also investing in improved visual messaging features.

Today, Facebook released an outline of its priorities when it comes to Messenger, and one thing is clear: The organization wants to simplify the service. Over the past few years, the company built many new features that it packed into Messenger, and now the app is cluttered. "Expect to see us invest in massively simplifying and streamlining Messenger this year," Messenger lead David Marcus explains. He says the end goal for Facebook is "to make Messenger the easiest and most delightful way for people to spend time together in happy and harder times."

Facebook is also prioritizing visual messaging, from further investment in real-time video to improving GIF, sticker and image options within Messenger. Additionally, the social network is trying to improve group chats as a whole, whether you're trying to add someone to an existing chat or conduct a live video chat with multiple people. The company is also putting more emphasis on companies that use Messenger to reach their users, whether by using it for customer service or marketing.

Considering Facebook's massive user base, it isn't surprising that Messenger is widely used. The company cites 1.3 billion monthly active users of Messenger, as well as a noted rise of visual communication through GIFs and emoji. It's nice to see that the company is focusing on simplifying the service and looking at data to figure out why and how its users are utilizing Messenger and then trying to streamline that as much as possible.