How to Master Facebook Messenger
Facebook Messenger has become one of the most popular apps for connecting with friends and family, boasting 1.2 billion monthly active users. In fact, more of my friends use Messenger these days than their phones' built-in messaging apps! Here are a few of my favorites tips for using Messenger. Customize Group Conversations
Did you know you can customize your group chats using nicknames, emojis, and color schemes? To get started, open a group conversation and tap your recipients' names at the top of the screen. This will take you to Settings. To rename the conversation, tap the names again located at the top. You'll then be given the option to Change Name or Change Group Photo. You can also select Nicknames to assign your favorite pet name to members within your group, Color to select a color theme for your conversation, and Emoji to designate an emoji for your group chat (the default emoji is the thumbsup icon). From Settings, you can also select Add People or Leave Group, view shared photos, and mute notifications for a set period of time. Send and Request Cash
One of the best features of Messenger is the ability to send and receive money within the app. To send cash to a friend, simply open a conversation thread and tap the More (plus-sign) icon along the bottom of the Messenger window and select Payments. If you haven't already connected a debit card to your account, you'll be prompted to set that up. Once that's taken care of, you'll need to enter an amount and then select either Request or Pay. You can also attach a note to your payment/request letting your recipient know what the money is for.
View Hidden Messages
When a stranger on Facebook sends you a message, you don't typically receive a notification the way you would with messages from friends. As a result, I've been completely unaware of messages from new people. But there's actually an easy (though unintuitive) way to access your hidden messages. Simply navigate to People on the bottom menu and then select Message Requests. Here, you'll see Filtered Requests, as well as Suggested Contacts. Tap Show All beneath Filtered Requests. You'll probably notice a lot of messages from people that you don't know, and some of them may even be spam. If you see a message from somebody that you know, but that doesn't happen to be your Facebook friend, just tap the checkmark next to their name to approve the message and start receiving notifications when they contact you. Download Stickers
Facebook's selection of free stickers is seriously so much better than Apple's, which is one of the many reasons users love Messenger so much. To access the stickers you have, just open a message and tap the smiley-face icon in the menu bar. To add stickers to your collection, tap on the plus icon. Here, you'll see a wide range of stickers to choose from. Download your favorite by tapping the downward-facing arrow next to each sticker pack. You can organize your stickers by tapping the plus icon, navigating to Your Stickers, and tapping and holding the three horizontal lines next to each pack to move them up and down in your list.