Get ready for Messenger "codes."
Facebook's Messenger is taking a page out of Snapchat's playbook.
In a post announcing that Messenger now has 900 million users globally, Facebook executive David Marcus said that Messenger will soon let you create profile usernames and web links. The links will look like "m.me/yourusername" and let anyone quickly add you in Messenger without looking up your Facebook account.
The usernames and profile links will also be available to businesses, which are starting to use Messenger as a way to deliver customer support and let you buy things through chatting.
Every Messenger account will also have a scannable QR code within the app, which is exactly how Snapchat lets people share their profiles with others. Snapchat also recently added the ability to share profiles on the web with public URLs.
Facebook has been increasingly making Messenger a standalone experience from its main app. You don't even need a Facebook account to use Messenger anymore, and these new profile sharing tools are a clear indication that Messenger has become a formidable communications tool outside of Facebook.
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