Looks like there is some bad news for Facebook this year.
If you're one of the few who are using @Facebook.com email service, then you should know that Facebook's email service is shuting down and it's scheduled to do so this coming March. The reason why it's shutting down is simple: no one is using it!
Facebook has confirmed that it would terminate its email service next month. It has already started disseminating notifications about this change. In that message, Facebook reiterated that its system is changing. Frequent users of Facebook Mail should have seen the notification by now.
Facebook's email service was launched in 2010. However, since then, the Facebook Mail function has remained relatively unused. This is despite the service being forced upon its users especially during the summer of 2012. Many observers think that the effort was the turning point in the company's decision whether to continue the service or not. The results are now obvious.
The service was described as a "modern messaging system" when it was launched in 2010. Back then, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the email service would eventually transcend not just email but also SMS and several other messaging systems. The email service was also simplified for the sake of users.
By the early part of March, Facebook mail would just be another memory of the past. This move also comes about two months following a lawsuit Facebook faced from two complainants who claimed that the company meddles with users' private messages. The plaintiffs accuse the company of scanning email messages within its system to better profile message-senders' online activity. The company has since dismissed the claims and committed to defend itself in court.
So what happens after the service is shut down? According to Facebook, the emails received through the system would soon be re-routed to the primary email address that is linked to the user's Facebook account. Thus, users would now take the option to activate or turn off email forwarding.
Other than that, this change would not bring about any other modification to how the Website is being utilized. In fact, many analysts think this change would pass unnoticed. Facebook is expected to shift its focus from this underused email service into a better and improved mobile messaging service, which has more potential among almost all users of the site.
