If you’re a Globe or Smart subscriber and you’ve spent time on Facebook for Android or the Web today using your mobile-data connection, then you may have noticed a small toggle on the upper right-hand side of the Facebook app or site.
Facebook with free data means you can post comments and status updates, upload pictures and videos, share content, and hit the ‘Like’ and ‘Share’ buttons without abandon.
And depending on your choices, the toggle will either glow purple or blue to indicate whether or not your use of FB will count against your data allowance. That’s right: You can now access Facebook and the accompanying Messenger app without incurring data charges from your cellular carrier, provided you’re on a postpaid plan or are willing to shell out at least a few pesos per day for on-the-go Internet connectivity.
Facebook with free data means you can post comments and status updates, upload pictures and videos, share content, and hit the “Like” and “Share” buttons without abandon.
The catch is that you can’t view photos or watch videos on your timeline, which is a major bummer, as photos and videos are an intrinsic part of the FB experience. After all, what would the black hole that is Mark Zuckerberg’s social network be without memes and cat videos? We might as well drop Facebook altogether before proceeding to shake the dirt off of our Twitter accounts. (I’m kidding, I’m kidding. I love Twitter.)
But more importantly, the latest carrier offer involving Facebook lets you use the Messenger app for Android for free, with the ability to send messages, stickers, and images to other Facebook users.
Now that Facebook Messenger is free, you no longer need other messaging apps. You can use it as much as you want without worrying about exceeding your data cap.
And therein lies the biggest problem facing all other messaging apps: You no longer need them as much as you think you do, especially now that you don’t have to make judicious use of Facebook Messenger. You can use it as much as you want without worrying about exceeding your data cap. And while it isn’t quite a replacement for SMS just yet, the lure of new ways of interacting with others makes for a compelling alternative.
Everyone is one Facebook these days, including people who don’t know they’re on Facebook. Like my mother, for example. That’s why FB is so dominant in social networking (1.44 billion monthly active users, according to the company’s latest earnings report) and worth billions of dollars. The shift to Messenger shouldn’t be a problem for your friends and family, then.
I think many of you will agree that it’s crazy to maintain multiple messaging services when it would be so much easier to keep one.
Now, about that spotty mobile data connection…
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