Facebook Wants to Dominate The World with "New Messages" Email Inbox

If you haven't noticed, Facebook is changing the way you use Facebook Messages.  
The New Messages function gives you all messages, chats and texts in one place, with the added ability to have a personalized inbox, complete with your very own email address!  Mine is zlatathoughts@facebook.com.  Keeping it real with their privacy structure, Facebook also allows you to control who can send you messages and who can't.

This upgrade also allows you to keep your full conversation history (stalkkkkk-errrrr) and see everything you've ever discussed with each friend as a single conversation.  There's no need for subject lines and you can easily leave large conversations that no longer interest you.  Messages are grouped into one ongoing conversation with each friend or group of friends, not by date or subject line. 


Chat and message histories are threaded together — you can think of them as one and the same. When you open a conversation you’re having with Jane, you’ll see a log that includes all your messages along with your entire chat history. If you send a friend who is offline a chat message, the chat message will be logged in your Messages for you to reference later.

To turn on chat, click "Chat (Offline)" at the bottom right footer of any Facebook page. The chat menu will expand to display friends that are online


FORWARDING!  This is huge for me.  You can now easily forward messages and/or strings of messages as well!  This option wasn't around earlier.  Other key features include:

• Faster interaction: If you want, you can send messages just by hitting your Enter key, so the new Messages is as fast (and as informal) as an in-person conversation.
• Integrated communication: No matter what you’re using to communicate (Facebook, mobile or email), your conversation streams quickly and seamlessly into one place.
• Smart filtering: You’ll always see what’s important to you first – messages from the people you’re close to take precedence over mailing lists.
• Revamped search: Search for either the person you were talking with or what you were talking about to quickly find your message and all the related context.
• Adding people to group conversations: Loop new people into the conversation, giving them full access to everything that’s been said so far.
• Unsubscribing, or removing yourself from a conversation: Leave a group conversation when you no longer wish to receive new messages.
• Sending attachments: In addition to sending links, photos and videos, you can now attach external files to your messages.

Texting Messages to your phone?? No problem.  Here's how to text messages with your phone:

Once you turn on text messaging, the texts you exchange with friends are incorporated into your conversations along with your message and chat history. This allows you and your friends to message each other even when you’re not at your computers.

Getting and responding to messages from your phone
Once you turn on text messaging, friends can check the "Send to Phone" option when they send you messages. If a friend checks this box, you’ll receive a text that contains the message. Simply reply to the text from your phone, and your friend will receive your reply as a Facebook message. It will also be logged in the ongoing conversation with your friend, which you can view from your Messages home page.

Sending messages from your phone
To send a new message to a friend via a mobile text, just text the following to 32665 (FBOOK):

msg john smith what’s up?

This would send the message "what's up?" to your friend John Smith.

Controlling text notifications
You can control which text notifications you receive on the Notifications tab of your Account Settings page.

So is Facebook email for you??? According to Facebook, there are many benefits to claiming your Facebook email address:

• It’s free and easy to set up.
• Having your email integrated with your messages, chats and texts makes it easier to check them all at once. And if you’re looking for a message later, you don’t have to worry about how it was sent since all your different types of messages are in one place.
• Your Facebook messages are compatible with traditional email systems (e.g., Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail). When people send you emails from these external systems, they’re delivered directly to your Facebook Messages. And when you send messages to external email addresses, they’re formatted to look like your messages on Facebook, including your name and profile picture along with your message.
• Owning your @facebook.com address makes it easier for friends and family who are not on Facebook yet to connect with you.
• Your other email addresses may change over time, but your Facebook email never does.

What do you guys think?!?!?