Communications security

With New Platforms Facebook Looks to Make Phone Numbers a Thing of the Past

Multifunctional communication platforms will replace phones as we know them, David Marcus wrote in his blog Thursday. Rather than calling, texting and sharing multimedia, users of apps like Messenger are able to send money, GIFs, stickers, voice clips, and information about their location via new communication platforms.

Messenger has recently passed the threshold of 800 million users, Time reported. Facebook developers began a major push last year to upgrade the app, adding new features to the service that allow users to do everything from making purchases via app, chatting with customer service representatives and ordering rides through Uber.