Facebook Messenger has been widely used to keep in constant contact with friends and family, but as more people rely on their mobile devices, many have found alternative methods of communication outside of the popular social network.  Chat apps such as Snapchat and WhatsApp have been gnawing away at Facebook Messenger’s target market, and that could spell bad news for Facebook as it re-shifts its strategy to the mobile sector.

WhatsApp reaches 200 million monthly active users

According to WhatsApp, it now has more than 200 million monthly active users, a far cry from Facebook Messenger’s 56 million monthly active users from November of last year.  Facebook could have too many products and services on its plate, preventing it from focusing on certain services such as its Messenger app.

Facebook is hoping to curb WhatsApp’s growing popularity, layering in more features like Chat Heads in its Android app update.  This means that if you have the latest version of Facebook Messenger installed on your Android device, no matter where you are on your phone, if someone chats you up on Facebook, the message will pop up on your screen.  It’s certainly real-time interaction, but could end up scaring some users off.

The other advantage of WhatsApp over Facebook Messenger is that it managed to monetize the popularity of the app by asking a $0.99 yearly service fee.  With that, WhatsApp has figured out a way to grow its userbase, keep people interested in the service, and make money along the way.

Snapchat inspires pokey Facebook app

The app that allows you to chat with people, and more notably, send photos and videos that self-destruct after a few seconds is seeing tremendous growth as 150 million photos move through the service on a daily basis.  No wonder it was able to raise $13.5 million in a round of venture capital funding led by Benchmark Capital – people can’t stop using it!

The reason Snapchat is so enticing is that it lets you send racy or extremely embarrassing photos and videos of yourself, without worrying about it coming back to haunt you in the future.  Though some argue that a screenshot can easily be taken, at least you’d be informed if it was done so you’ll know who to go after if the image does finds it way into the public eye.

Snapchat has gotten so big that Facebook decided they want in on the fun and gave new lift to its Poke feature.  Originally, Poke was a Facebook feature that served no important purpose aside from letting the other person know that you thought about them by sending a poke their way.  It’s like a nudge or buzz in terms of instant messaging.  Facebook transformed Poke into an app akin to Snapchat by allowing people to send messages, photos and videos that can only be viewed for 10 seconds or less.

No news yet if people actually use Facebook Poke, and if so, how many monthly active users it has.