Facebook starts testing ‘streaks’ of messages in Messenger

Facebook has started a test urging users to send at least one message to a contact every day to keep a streak intact. It is unknown what the social network’s plans are with the feature.

A streak is a number of days in a row where users have sent each other at least one message. The system works with psychological rewards in the form of notifications with emojis to encourage users to form a streak. In addition, Messenger warns users if a streak is about to be broken, writes The Verge.

Streaks appeal to the reward center in the brain and are intended to make apps more addictive. The function is very similar to a similar feature of Facebook’s competitor Snapchat. Facebook has copied more features from Snapchat in recent years, including Stories and augmented reality filters in the camera. By mimicking the functions, Facebook seems to want to prevent users from switching to Snapchat.

Facebook has not yet responded to the screenshots and notifications from users who have seen the streak feature. As a result, it is also unknown whether streaks will be added to WhatsApp later, for example. The social network more often tests functions on a small scale. Sometimes those features become available to everyone later, in other cases the company cancels a new feature.