In the wake of increasing government scrutiny and the inability to derive profit, WhatsApp has announced it will shut down permanently within the week.
In a stunning turn of events, Facebook has elected to pull the plug on its darling acquisition; WhatsApp. The move, which will see the social media company close down its $19 billion USD acquisition, will see all users ported over to Messenger.
The nail in the coffin is two-fold for the instant messaging app; in a bid to monetize the platform, Facebook introduced an updated terms and conditions requirement to the service last year which would enable data-sharing between the app and the social media company’s core web platform.
Read: Facebook launches Messenger Day, takes the fight directly to Snapchat
The changes would also enable businesses to chat directly to customers on the platform, and would further introduce bots to the service. However, government scrutiny in both the United Kingdom and the European Union have caused Facebook to put its plans on ice.
Earlier this year, Facebook agreed to stop sharing user data in the UK, while the EU is presently investigating both WhatsApp and Facebook on the grounds of data sharing without consent.
Subsequently, Facebook has been unable to monetize the app effectively; while the introduction of a Snapchat-stories style feature promised to increase engagement on the service, the poor reception of the feature has left Facebook with little other recourse than to close the app entirely.
In an unusual press statement, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg revealed that WhatsApp users would find themselves unable to access the app’s services during the coming week, and will subsequently be directed to Messenger as an alternative.
“While Messenger’s graph is your Facebook friends and WhatsApp’s graph is your phone contacts, we’ve taken steps to combine this approach in recent months. As WhatsApp formally begins the process of closure, users will be ported over to Messenger where they can continue to chat to their friends and loved ones as we roll out new features in the coming months.”
The news comes amidst Facebook’s push into Lite services with the data-savvy Messenger and Facebook Lite, which enables consumers with older phones to access Facebook’s core services without heavy performance or data requirements.
It is presently unclear as to whether South African consumers migrating from WhatsApp will be encouraged to use Facebook’s Lite service, given that Messenger Lite recently became available on our shores.
Read: Facebook Lite smashes through a record 200 million users worldwide
What are your thoughts? Are you sad to leave WhatsApp behind for good? Be sure to let us know your opinion in the comments below!
Follow Bryan Smith on Twitter: @bryansmithSA
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