Facebook just announced today the long awaited news of their rumored email system. But is it really email? Not quite, according to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook’s new messaging system can handle IM, SMS, and email, but it’s not email itself. However, Facebook users are going to be able to send messages with an @facebook.com address that matches their username. Facebook’s team on this project was 15 people, the biggest they’ve ever had for any product. Still, “this project started a little over a year ago” says Andrew Bosworth, a software engineer at Facebook. The marketing applications of this service are numerous. If your brand has a Facebook page, messaging your friends/customers may be a lot easier and more effective. If you don’t have a Facebook page for your company, now is a perfect time. This messaging service will likely bring even more users on Facebook. The more users, the more people will see your brand.
Facebook isn’t the only one getting in on the action. Yesterday, AOL announced “Project Phoenix”, a new webmail app that functions similar to Gmail. AOL was once on top of the online market, but lost brand loyalty and recognition with competitors like Google and Facebook. AOL claims that 45% of their page views are for their email, so it only makes sense that AOL’s new focus would be redesigning their email service. The new email service is like Gmail, with added features for writing quick, short emails and a Smart View for previewing emails, attachments, maps, and threads.
Written by Brennan Mack