--- description: Facebook unwrapped its new "Messages" feature earlier this week, and announced that it'll slowly be rolling out to users over the coming months. Here's a... title: Two Minute Video: Facebook’s New Messaging System Explained image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Business](/section/business/) * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) # Two Minute Video: Facebook's New Messaging System Explained by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) Nov 18, 2010 3:40 PM CUT by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) Nov 18, 2010 3:40 PM CUT Facebook unwrapped its new “Messages” feature [earlier this week](http://techland.com/2010/11/15/facebooks-new-messaging-service-please-dont-call-it-e-mail/ "undefined"), and announced that it’ll slowly be rolling out to users over the coming months. Here’s a quick, basic look at the upcoming service that aims to blur the lines between e-mail, instant messaging, and text messaging. **More on Time.com:** [Photos: Inside Facebook Headquarters](http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1990443,00.html "undefined") [Facebook’s New Messaging Service: Please Don’t Call It E-Mail!](http://techland.com/2010/11/15/facebooks-new-messaging-service-please-dont-call-it-e-mail/ "undefined") [Facebook & Microsoft Office Team Up For E-Mail Attachments](http://techland.com/2010/11/15/facebook-microsoft-office-team-up-for-e-mail-attachments/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7244385/two-minute-video-facebooks-new-messaging-system-explained/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7244385/two-minute-video-facebooks-new-messaging-system-explained/"},"headline":"Two Minute Video: Facebook's New Messaging System Explained","datePublished":"2010-11-18T15:40:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T10:53:57.012Z","description":"Facebook unwrapped its new \"Messages\" feature earlier this week, and announced that it'll slowly be rolling out to users over the coming months. Here's a...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7244385/two-minute-video-facebooks-new-messaging-system-explained/","keywords":["Tech","Gadgets","Internet"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7244385/two-minute-video-facebooks-new-messaging-system-explained/","name":"Two Minute Video: Facebook's New Messaging System Explained"}}]}] ```