Facebook Messenger Features Want You To Do More Than Just Chat

A little over five years ago, communicating with someone over the Internet meant lines of text and a few ASCII-based emoticons to express emotions that words can't easily say. These days, not only have we gone into audio-visual Internet communication, we have gone beyond them as well. Take, for example, Facebook's latest update to its Messenger chat app that brings all sorts of whimsical expressions, from animated emojis to masks. Because sometimes, a sticker just says its better.

Some of these features have been around for a while, but this latest Messenger update pushes them front and center. Just recently, for example, Facebook capitalized on the success of the Wonder Woman film by adding Justice League masks to the chat app. Now users have even more frivolous masks to choose from, and some even have hidden features that react to your face's movement.

Instagram became popular not exactly because of its ease of use but because of the dozens of filters available to spruce up your photos. But who said filters can only be applied to static, more permanent images? Thanks to advances in computer graphics and the capabilities of our smartphones, you can easily give an artistic flair even to live video chat.

The venerable emoji also gets an upgrade, but it's not yet the new set that has just been standardized. Instead, Facebook has taken its five reactions and have freed them from their static, mostly rounded confines. Tap on the sad face and see tears flowing down your face. Tap the heart and be surprised at the hearts sprouting and exploding from your face. Perfect for those times when your own face isn't enough to describe what you feel deep inside.

SOURCE: Facebook