Facebook Messenger is killing the phone number… according to Facebook

Facebook believes its Messenger app is rendering the trusty old phone number useless.

In a blog post on Thursday the firm says the app’s ability to send messages of all formats, while also making video and audio calls makes the traditional digits surplus to requirements.

Facebook’s vice president of messaging products David Marcus claims users of the app no longer need to know a contact’s phone number in order to use the full communication spectrum.

When speaking about the death of flip phones, which brought texting to the fore, Marcus wrote: “Old communication styles are disappearing too. With Messenger, we offer all the things that made texting so popular, but also so much more.

“Yes, you can send text messages, but you can also send stickers, photos, videos, voice clips, GIFs, your location, and money to people. You can make video and voice calls while at the same time not needing to know someone’s phone number. You don’t need to have a Facebook account to use Messenger anymore, and it’s also a cross platform experience – so you can pick up where you left off whether you’re on a desktop computer, a tablet, or your phone.”

With Facebook Messenger starting to become a platform for customer service, Facebook could also make it easier to avoid spending hours on the phone with representatives.

Would you be willing to sacrifice your phone number to go all in on Facebook Messenger?

Or is this more propaganda from Facebook over its desires to overthrow yet another convention in favour of FB’s ubiquity as the only necessary means of communication?

Share your thoughts below.