Facebook wants to ensure that Messenger, its chat platform, is as easy as texting, but more entertaining and fun to use. An announcement out of Facebook's F8 conference heralds some big, and very cool, changes to Messenger. Here's what's new:

Desktop

Later this year Facebook will roll out Messenger for desktop that enables chat and video and audio calls. With this feature, you'll always have access to Messenger without having to have a bunch of tabs open that you don't need.

Co-watching

Never heard of co-watching? You're in good company, but you're going to like it. Co-watching will allow users to watch Facebook videos at the same time a friend is watching the same video. For nonprofits, this is potentially powerful functionality. Facebook Live is already an important tool - the ability to create a shared experience through video will be for those who find creative ways to use it.

Emojis

You may think that the ability to overlay an emoji on a status doesn't have anything to do with your nonprofit, but you'd be wrong. Emojis are part of the fun sprinkles Facebook is adding to engage more users on Messenger. This feature, combined with the others aimed at creating a better experience, will drive even more Messenger users. (And your nonprofit should be leveraging the power of Messenger to connect with your community!)

Customer Service

Messenger will allow users to make appointments and interact with businesses in a new way. Via m.me links a nonprofit can pass a user on their website to Messenger for customer service - either through a chatbot or a live person. Revolutionary.

Late in 2018 Facebook announced they were sinking billions into making Facebook and Messenger better, more positive user experiences. Now that we're through Q1, we're starting to see some of their promises come to fruition. We predict that by this time next year, Facebook's functionality will be light years ahead of what it is today - and that will attract even more users.

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