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19th Apr 2017

Facebook Messenger is about to change dramatically with this potentially annoying feature

Alan Loughnane

Change is coming…

Facebook have debuted a number of new features for their Messenger app, some of which look rather promising and others, less so.

One positive feature will be the ability to listen to streaming music within the app while chatting with someone.

But the company announced that they want to make Messenger more like the Yellow Pages in a way and make the app easy for contacting businesses on.

But it’s a two-way street as it allows businesses to get in contact with you far easier as well.

The company unveiled a brand-new Discover tab for its popular chat app on Tuesday which will allow users to find the businesses “they care about.”

But probably the most invasive feature added to the app will be the addition of ‘M’, a new virtual assistant following a failed attempt to introduce it two years ago.

The new version of M is completely automated, and will appear in your chats to make you aware of Messenger features you might not have known about. This could mean it interrupts your messages to prompt you when it recognises what you’re talking about.

“These include fun stickers to say ‘thank you,’ a reminder to meet up with a friend, or an easy way to pay someone back or get paid via P2P payments,” says Facebook.

“Powered by artificial intelligence, M recognises when people are doing specific tasks and provides helpful suggestions.”

We’re not sure about this feature, it seems like it could be very intrusive and annoying at times. But at the moment, it’s only being rolled out in the US but should it prove a success, it will soon be making its way over here as well.

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