This new web-based service provides instant text and video messaging with Facebook friends without all of that other Facebook clutter. But the social networking juggernaut has even greater ambitions for the platform and is now bringing it to desktops and laptops with Facebook Messenger for Web (free). Why take an already great app and chop it into two less-useful halves? Fortunately, the split allowed Messenger to mature as an independent service while leveraging Facebook's all-powerful social ecosystem. When Facebook decided to spin off its messaging service as a wholly separate mobile app last year, the move was met with skepticism and even paranoia.

Video chat requires logging into Facebook itself.

Lacks third-party messaging apps and other mobile features.

How to Set Up Two-Factor Authentication.

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Messenger web