Last week, it was announced that by Mark Zuckerberg that Facebook was considering merging it’s three biggest messaging platforms: WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger. The idea is that a user will not only be able to message from any of the apps without switching applications, but users will be allowed to send messages between the three networks. The proposed merger would bring together three of the world’s largest messaging services, with over a combined 2.6 billion users.

According to the New York Times, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp will continue to work as individual platforms to unify the services for simpler cross communication.

The New York Times retrieved a statement from Facebook, saying the aim of the proposal was to:

“build the best messaging experiences we can; and people want messaging to be fast, simple, reliable and private … We’re working on making more of our messaging products end-to-end encrypted and considering ways to make it easier to reach friends and family across networks.â€

The idea is still in early stages, so there aren’t any exact details over how this is going to work. However, the integration of these sites means that Facebook could be able to create more in-depth profiles on their users. TechCrunch has said that Facebook will be adding end-to-end encryption to Instagram messages, bringing a new security feature to the platform. Currently, WhatsApp messages are end-to-end encrypted by default, and they have begun making the end-to-end encryption changes on Messenger.  

Combining the networks will also encourage users to stay within the Facebook ecosystem, and makes it more difficult to stop using a service when a large majority of your network will remain there.

By adding the encryption to all platforms, it will make it easier for the cross-network communications. The integrations are apparently a priority for 2019, and the hybrid application is expected to be released in 2020.