Will Facebook Become the WeChat of the Western World?

China’s ‘everything app’ has inspired Zuckerberg’s next move.

On March 6, Mark Zuckerberg posted a lengthy note on Facebook with the telling title, ‘A Privacy-Focused Vision for Social Networking’.

In the post, Zuckerberg lays out the company’s mission to move towards encrypted messaging, involving the convergence of its Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp products.

This will allow users to send messages across all three services seamlessly, while each while maintain its own front-end interface.

The news feed will recede into the background, while smaller groups will be able to communicate quickly and securely. Less “town hall” and more “living room”, as Zuckerberg puts it.

The plan is a significant shift from the original Facebook mission.