Meta to discontinue cross-app chats between Instagram and Facebook: Details

Meta had announced Messenger support for Instagram in 2020 that allowed cross-platform messaging support between Facebook and Instagram accounts

Meta has announced that cross-app communication between Facebook and Instagram will be discontinued starting mid-December. 

According to a new support page update on Instagram, users will not be able to start new conversations or calls with Facebook accounts from Instagram. To continue a conversation with Facebook accounts, users can start a new chat on Messenger or Facebook using their Facebook account.

Once the cross-app communication shuts off, any existing chats on Instagram with a Facebook account will become read-only, even if these Facebook accounts are removed from the chat. This means that users with Instagram accounts can’t send new messages in these chats.

Additionally, any existing chats that an Instagram user had with Facebook accounts will not move to their inbox on Facebook or Messenger. Instagram Activity status will also automatically become unavailable for viewing using a Facebook account.

Meta announced Messenger support for Instagram in 2020. The feature allows cross-platform messaging support between Facebook and Instagram accounts. Three years later, the company is now reversing its decision to integrate both social media platforms.

Recently, Instagram rolled out a new feature that allows users to share their posts only with a small group of ‘Close Friends'.

Mark Zuckerberg, on his broadcast channel on Instagram announced that the feature gives users the option of sharing posts and Reels to a limited audience.

Users can find an additional option to select ‘audience’ when sharing a new post on their Instagram feed. Tapping on the ‘Audience’ button will open up a pop-up window asking the user if they wish to share it with their ‘close friend’ list. The window also provides the option to edit the list.

Followers on the Close Friend list will be able to see each other’s usernames when they like or add a comment to a post or a Reel with limited access.