Facebook + Instagram = Love?

[Bloomberg] [Fully Charged]( From [Bloomberg](   [FOLLOW US [Facebook Share]]( [Twitter Share]( [SUBSCRIBE [Subscribe]](  Hey all, it's Kurt. You may have seen this week that [Facebook launched its nascent dating service in the U.S](., more than a year after it was first unveiled. That's notable because the U.S. is Facebook's most valuable market by far. If the company is going to make money from dating—which Tinder has proven is very possible—then Facebook will need to convince Americans that the same social network hosting all of their embarrassing old college photos is also a good place to find love. I don't think that's an easy sell. But what was far more interesting about the announcement, though much less prominent, was that Facebook Dating appears to be a trial balloon for a different kind of effort: Merging the Facebook and Instagram products. We've written a lot about the relationship between Facebook and Instagram at Bloomberg, including the [tension between the two organizations]( that ultimately led Instagram founders Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom to leave the company almost a year ago. But most of that discussion has been about smaller product tweaks and internal corporate changes -- Instagram employees reporting up to Facebook managers, for example. With Facebook Dating, that appears to be changing. What we've seen in the past month is that Facebook is pushing forward with some substantial product changes that should bring the two apps much closer together. Even though Facebook Dating will exist inside of the main Facebook app, users can add their Instagram photos to their dating profile, and will soon be able to publish their Instagram story to that profile, too. In a separate move, Facebook is [changing the messaging technology]( for Instagram's private messaging feature so users will be able to chat with people using Facebook Messenger instead. If I were a betting man, I'd guess that this trend continues. It's not hard to imagine IGTV, Instagram's video service, integrating more closely with Facebook Watch, Facebook's short form video service. Or Facebook and Instagram users co-mingling in the same online group, or shopping from the same online stores. I don't know which features will be meshed, but I feel pretty confident there will be more meshing. There are at least two plausible theories for why Facebook would do this. The first is that the Federal Trade Commission is currently [investigating Facebook]( for potential anti-competitive behavior. There are calls to break up the company. It's possible Facebook could be broken up. Combining the products, just like the company plans to combine the infrastructure behind its messaging services, would theoretically make that harder. The second, and I think more likely scenario, is that Instagram is still growing, and is widely seen as the more popular and relevant social media platform despite its smaller size. There is a world in which riding that wave is good for Facebook and its much older social network. Integrating the two services makes Facebook more relevant, and harder for users to abandon. But there's also a world in which combining these products, even in small ways, means that all of them lose the distinct characteristics that made them enjoyable in the first place. My biggest complaint about the main Facebook app is that it's too bloated. It's become a one-stop shop for too many things. As a result, I use it for almost nothing. The more you meld Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger with Facebook, the more you risk losing what actually worked to begin with.  -- [Kurt Wagner](mailto:kwagner71@bloomberg.net)    Here's what you need to know in global technology news: WeWork Cos. is going public, but may fetch a much smaller valuation than it garnered during its most recent private fundraising. SoftBank invested in WeWork at a $47 billion valuation earlier this year, but the company [may IPO at a valuation closer to $20 billion](, Bloomberg reports.  Apple Inc. is developing new in-screen fingerprint technology that would work alongside its existing face-scanning technology. The [technology]( could help users of its iPhone devices more easily do things like log in to the device or make a purchase.  Payments startup Stripe is getting into a new business: lending. The company [launched Stripe Capital]( on Thursday with a plan to provide loans to small businesses that are already Stripe customers.  Facebook Inc. is [stockpiling lobbyists]( to help the company push its newly proposed cryptocurrency, Libra, through regulatory hurdles.   Sponsored Content by [Darktrace]( As organizations embrace cloud services, the attack surface is increasing. Meanwhile, cloud-based threats are fast and unpredictable, often outpacing existing defenses. But cyber AI is changing the game. Thousands of companies use AI to detect and respond to advanced attackers in the cloud, before they do damage. [Learn what’s missing in cloud security and how cyber AI can help.](   You received this message because you are subscribed to the Bloomberg Technology newsletter Fully Charged. You can tell your friends to [sign up here](.  [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022