Facebook Can Now Sync Your Instagram Contacts to Messenger

Facebook wants to grow your messenger contact list with a help of Instagram. The company has just launched a new feature in Messenger that pulls your contacts from Instagram, if you want to opt to connect your account. The option appears in the Messenger’s “People” tab, alongside the existing option to sync your phone’s contacts with Messenger.

This feature was earlier posted by the Manchan Wong, who posted a screenshot to Twitter.

Facebook Messenger is testing (?) syncing with Instagram account pic.twitter.com/bJzFpRS7zD

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) July 16, 2018

Others outside the U.S noticed this option too.

#TECNOLOGÍA– Facebook Messenger ya permite sincronizar la cuenta de Instagram.

👉https://t.co/tikO1KVuBY pic.twitter.com/JHqemcLVKW

— After Office (@AfterOfficeEc) July 18, 2018

We have also found the option enabled in our very own Messenger app, also have now confirmed from the Facebook that it’s a full public launch.

Whenever you tap on “Connect Instagram,” Messenger will automatically adds the contacts from instagram. In addition, your instagram username and account also then becomes visible to other people on Messenger.

The result is an expanded social graph of sorts — one that helps to connect and combine the friends and family you known from Facebook, with those you might know from Instagram.

Not everyone is facilitated with this feature, however.

As one of the Twitter user has pointed out, that it’s not that clear that pushing “Connect Instagram” (the button’s title that appeared to some), means Messenger will automatically add your Instagram contacts to the Messenger. It seems that you ought to be given a choice here as if you want to add them, but that’s not the case here.

OMG FACEBOOK MESSENGER JUST ADDED ALL MY INSTAGRAM FRIENDS … WTF … I DIDNT MEAN 2 DO THAT I SWEAR I’M NOT A BEG LOOOL https://t.co/EgudOTfZyB

— rellz. (@RelliRellz) July 18, 2018

Well, this is of course not the very first time of Facebook who added integrations between its apps.

For example, in 2016 facebook gave a business’s access to a unified inbox of conversations from across its platform, including Facebook, Instagram and Messenger.

It’s though clear that Facebook wants to capitalize on that activity to grow its own messenger app, too.