In the continuing saga of the rise of Facebook in the mobile platforms, it has recently blocked access to its content from walkie talkie application, Voxer. This move is attributed to a platform policy change in Facebook’s part that does not allow data exportation to “competing social networks”.
Voxer is understandably outraged by this surprise move by Facebook. A Voxer spokesperson simply said that they were being given a 48-hour notice after which Voxer users would lose access to the feature that allow them to message their Facebook friends thru Voxer.
Facebook counters that the company’s stance is a give and take policy. Apps like Voxer who want access to Facebook’s data should share back something else. However, the vague wording of the platform policy poses a lot of trouble to app developers.
Messaging apps that do not get contact details from Facebook seem to be exempt from the Facebook data purge. For example, even though Viber offers similar features as Voxer and even uses Facebook to login easier, it does not directly use Facebook to find friends.
Facebook’s decision to remove data access from Voxer follows the launch of voice messaging and VoIP services in its Messenger app. While it is understandable that Facebook does not want to give app developers a free ride into harnessing their gargantuan database, tactics like this may ultimately hinder app development and social media advancement in the long run.
What do you think about this latest development regarding Facebook? Do you have any advice or alternatives that you can suggest to Facebook? We’d love to hear about them so go ahead and comment below.
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