, Columnist
Why Facebook Can’t Resist Integrating WhatsApp
The decision to unite its empire is both an inevitable end to independence for its disparate properties, and a barrier against calls for a breakup.
Different apps, one family.
Photographer: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images
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Facebook Inc.’s “family” of apps is about to get even closer.
The New York Times reported Friday that Facebook is planning to more closely integrate the apps it owns, including its Messenger and WhatsApp instant chat services, as well as photo-and-video-focused Instagram. The decision is both an inevitable end to independence for properties that Facebook acquired and initially left largely alone, and a barrier against calls to split the company apart to limit its power.