For several years WhatsApp and Instagram are already part of the Facebook group. Now Facebook wants to make that clear even with a name change.
The Facebook – Apps Instagram and WhatsApp get a suffix that makes their affiliation to the Group significantly. They will in the future “Instagram of Facebook” and “WhatsApp of Facebook”, as a spokesman for the online network of the news website “The Information” confirmed at the weekend. The move would have no impact on how the apps work but would be a political signal.
Competition guardians check Facebook purchases
Critics call for the smashing of the online network, and one of the mentioned variants is the spin-off of Instagram and WhatsApp. In addition, American competition officials are checking, according to the Wall Street Journal, whether Facebook bought the two start-ups at the time to eliminate rivals.
A breakup of Facebook was already the topic for the US presidential election 2020: Among other things, the Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren has spelt the split of Instagram and WhatsApp on the flags.
Several billion euros paid
Facebook had taken over the Instagram 2012 photo platform for about $ 1 billion and the chat service WhatsApp a good two years later for about $ 22 billion. Both initially acted largely independently under the umbrella of the group, most recently took Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg but increasingly under his control. The founders of Instagram and WhatsApp have since left Facebook.
Zuckerberg also announced to bring WhatsApp as well as the second Facebook chat service Messenger and the corresponding feature of Instagram on a common technical platform. That too would make a possible spin-off difficult. The details of the conversion are still unclear, but it turns out that the cornerstone of strict complete encryption of the content should be, as is customary with WhatsApp.
Notice of name change already discovered in March
Previously, “The Information” reported earlier this fall that online network users are increasingly sharing content on Instagram and WhatsApp, fueling concerns about a loss of importance to Facebook’s main app.
A reference to the name supplement “of Facebook” for the two services had been discovered by a software developer in March in the program code. Facebook is also using Facebook for its workplace communication platform.