Facebook is planning to add its name to both Instagram and Whatsapp. Soon, Whatsapp will become ‘Whatsapp from Facebook’ and Instagram will be called ‘Instagram from Facebook’. In a broader sense, this can be related to the fact that Facebook is now desperate to vaunt its ownership of the two social media platforms.
According to reports, Facebook has already confirmed its plan to make changes to the name of these two social media apps. The company’s spokesperson Bertie Thompson has also mentioned in a statement that the company wants to be clear about the ‘products and services’ that are part of it. This move came after Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerburg expressed annoyance that Facebook doesn’t get enough credit for the success of both Instagram and Whatsapp. Facebook had bought Instagram for $1 billion back in 2012 and after two years, it acquired Whatsapp for $19 billion. In 2013, it also offered to buy Snapchat, which was turned down by the latter.
Several prominent figures, particularly, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (American politician), believe that Facebook’s ownership of the three most influential apps, namely Instagram, Whatsapp and Messenger can be seen as a company’s move to create a monopoly over social media platform. She also suggests that the company should be split up with the two social apps.
Now, the new titles namely ‘Whatsapp from Facebook’ and ‘Instagram from Facebook’ will be displayed on Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store, probably by the end of this year. Moreover, it will also be shown on the apps’ login pages. Except for the changes in the names, there is no clue if the company will provide any additional feature or upgrade to the apps. However, this move by Facebook is also being evaluated as its plan to integrate Whatsapp, Instagram and Messenger, in which, users can interact from one app to another.
