Back in late September, Facebook started testing a Messenger feature called Messenger Day in Poland. According to reports from Europe, Messenger Day was a continuation of previous Facebook apps like Slingshot and in-app functionalities like Instagram Stories. Of course, they themselves are heavily inspired by Snapchat but Facebook can hardly be blamed for testing out a proven formula in markets which aren’t yet dominated by Snapchat.
Like its name suggests, Messenger Day is an in-app feature of Facebook Messenger which can be used to share photos and video content which disappears after 24 hours. If that doesn’t sound exciting enough, Messenger Day also allows you to enhance your multimedia content with a bunch of flashy filters. So, it basically works like Snapchat or Instagram Stories but within Facebook’s instant messaging app. If recent developments are any indication, the social media giant is obviously rather pleased with the initial reception of Messenger Day in Poland as the company has just introduced the same feature to Messenger users in Australia. In a short statement sent to TechCrunch, Facebook stated that this functionality is currently available in Australia as a part of a “small test”, adding that it has nothing more to announce at this point.
So, while initial testing in Poland has obviously been somewhat successful, this still in no way confirms that Messenger Day will also find its way to other markets. Back in September, Facebook described the feature as a way for Messenger users to share their everyday moments with everyone they care about. The company’s representatives explained that they believe this is precisely what Messenger users are doing already so Messenger Day is an experimental method of facilitating that activity. It actually does even more than that as it actively encourages users to share what they’re feeling and doing. Luckily, the feature doesn’t seem to interfere with Messenger’s basic functionality and it’s rather easy to ignore if you aren’t interested in using your IM app of choice as a social network. If Messenger Day eventually ends up rolling out worldwide, this will be just another step in Facebook’s long-term strategy of diversifying Messenger as much as possible in order to improve user acquisition and retention.