In October 2022, Facebook Messenger announced that they would be removing the polls feature from their messaging platform. Polls had been a popular feature on Messenger, allowing users to easily create polls to survey friends or gather opinions on topics. However, despite the popularity of polls, Facebook made the decision to discontinue the feature.
The removal of polls from Messenger has left many users wondering why Facebook would get rid of such a fun, engaging way for people to connect on the platform. There are a few key reasons why Facebook likely decided to remove the polls feature from Messenger.
Declining Usage of the Polls Feature
One of the main reasons Facebook removed polls is likely due to declining usage of the feature over time. While polls were hugely popular when they first launched on Messenger, it’s likely that usage dropped off after the initial novelty wore off.
Facebook has access to detailed analytics on feature usage, so they can easily track user engagement with polls over time. If they saw that fewer and fewer people were creating and interacting with polls, keeping the feature no longer made sense.
Removing unused or unpopular features helps streamline the app and allows developers to focus on building out more widely used features that drive engagement. While some loyal poll users are disappointed to see the feature go, polls may not have been utilized enough on a broader scale to warrant keeping.
Move Toward Simplicity
Facebook and its family of apps have been working to simplify and streamline core experiences in recent years. Removing polls aligns with an overall shift toward focusing on Messenger’s core messaging capabilities.
Polls were a fun additional feature for Messenger, but not essential to the messaging experience. As Facebook works to optimize Messenger as a communication platform, it makes sense to remove non-essential components.
Keeping the interface clean and simple improves the overall user experience, especially for new users just getting started with Messenger. Removing polls declutters the interface and simplifies the messaging process.
Shift in Product Priorities
The removal of polls could also signal a broader shift in product priorities for Messenger. There are always limited engineering resources, so Facebook likely wanted to reallocate developers working on polls to other features seen as more important to Messenger’s future.
For example, Facebook may be putting greater emphasis on privacy, security, and personalized recommendations in messaging. Things like end-to-end encryption and AI-powered suggestions require extensive development work.
By removing polls and eliminating the engineering bandwidth needed to maintain the feature, Facebook can concentrate developer talent on new capabilities more central to Messenger’s product roadmap. The poll removal may have simply been a resource allocation decision as the platform’s priorities evolve.
The History of Polls on Facebook Messenger
To better understand why Facebook may have made the choice to remove polling, it’s helpful to look back at the history and context of the feature.
Polling Launched in 2016
Facebook first launched native polls within Messenger conversations in early 2016. This allowed users to create a poll question and multiple choice options to get feedback from friends right within an existing message thread.
At launch, Facebook product manager Loredana Crisan explained that polls would offer “a quick and easy way to get opinions from friends on the go.” The feature was part of an effort to make conversations within Messenger more interactive.
The Viral Popularity of Polls
Polls quickly became a viral sensation on Messenger, with people enthusiastically creating and sharing polls on all sorts of topics. The simplicity of setting up a poll combined with Messenger’s broad reach made polling extremely popular.
In particular, polls were widely used in group chats where people could survey friends in real-time and see results update live as votes came in. This made polling a fun group activity.
Polling Expands to Stories
Given the popularity of native polls on Messenger, Facebook expanded polls in 2018 to also allow poll stickers in Facebook Stories. People could add a poll sticker to their ephemeral stories to gather quick feedback.
Again, the polls feature proved hugely popular. This showed that people really enjoyed having simple ways to interact with friends and get opinions through polls.
Polls Become Ubiquitous
At their peak popularity, polls became practically ubiquitous on both Messenger and Facebook Stories. For a while, it was rare to open either platform without seeing at least a few poll posts.
This highlights that polls were not just a niche feature, but something widely used and valued by the Facebook community. Millions of people participated in and shared polls, cementing the feature’s status as a staple of both Messenger and Stories.
Why Polls Worked So Well on Messenger
Given the instant, viral popularity of polls from the moment they launched, it’s clear there were some key factors that made polling such a good fit for Messenger specifically.
Low Friction Sharing
One of the main appeals of polls on Messenger was how seamlessly you could create and share them without leaving your conversations. With a few taps you could send a poll to friends and see results in real-time.
The frictionless sharing meant people could spontaneously poll friends on even minor things since it took minimal effort. Low friction keeps usage high.
Real-Time Updates
Seeing poll results dynamically update in real-time made the experience extremely interactive and engaging. The real-time aspect gave it a “buzz” that drove people to create and participate in polls during conversations.
Static polls wouldn’t have had the same viral stickiness. The live nature of Messenger polls was key.
Integrated with Groups
Messenger has long supported group messaging threads between multiple friends simultaneously. Integrating polls natively into group chats made them a perfect fit for the platform.
Friends could use polls to easily coordinate plans or gather group opinions. This gave polls highly social and interactive qualities that Messenger group chats were uniquely positioned to maximize.
Part of Larger Messaging Trend
The rise of polls was also part of a broader increase in conversational, interactive messaging. Messenger adding polls was part of adapting to the shift to visual, expressive communication versus static text messaging.
Features like polls, reactions, gifs, and stickers made messaging more dynamic. Messenger polls fit seamlessly into this trend toward livelier messaging communication.
The Impact of Removing Polls from Messenger
While Facebook usage data likely showed declines in polling usage over time, the removal of the feature still had effects – both positive and negative – on the Messenger platform.
Positive Impacts
Here are some of the potential positive impacts of removing polls from Messenger:
- Simplified interface by removing a non-essential feature
- Less clutter and confusion for new users
- Frees up developer resources for more critical features
- Encourages more substantive conversations
- Opens door for potential replacement features
Overall, while removing polls takes away some conversational functionality, the streamlined experience and increased focus on core messaging could improve the platform.
Negative Impacts
However, some potential downsides of removing polls include:
- Upset loyal poll users who regularly created polls
- Reduce interactive, conversational nature of Messenger
- Loss of popular group chat activity
- Less opportunity for casual conversations
- Reduced viral distribution of Messenger content
Many users undoubtedly missed the ability to quickly poll friends or groups, reducing some of Messenger’s appeal as a social platform.
User Response to Removal
When Facebook first announced plans to remove polls from Messenger, there was a very mixed user response. Some welcomed the streamlining, while heavy poll users threatened to switch to alternative messaging platforms in protest.
A sampling of user comments highlights the divided reaction:
| Positive Response | Negative Response |
|---|---|
| “Good, polls were getting overused and annoying.” | “Bring back polls! Messenger is so boring without them.” |
| “The app has too many useless features. Focus on texting.” | “I’m switching back to WhatsApp if you remove polls.” |
| “Polls were frivolous – I’d rather have features that improve messaging.” | “You killed off one of Messenger’s best features for engagement!” |
Based on these comments, removing polls clearly generated strong reactions on both sides of the issue from Messenger’s passionate userbase.
Could Polls Return to Messenger in the Future?
While Facebook has given no indication that polls will return to Messenger after being removed, there are reasons to think polling could make a comeback on the platform someday.
Precedent of Brining Back Removed Features
Facebook has previously removed features from their apps, only to eventually reinstate them again in updated forms. For example, Facebook axed their Places check-in feature in 2014, but then brought back a similar Nearby Friends feature two years later.
So just because polls are currently gone from Messenger doesn’t preclude them from being added back in the future if Facebook sees a strategic need for them again.
Polls as a Differentiated Feature
Other leading messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal don’t currently have built-in polling features. Bringing back polls could help differentiate Messenger from competitors.
Unique, popular features like polls help drive user growth and engagement for messaging apps in a crowded market. Facebook may opt to reintroduce polling as a differentiation strategy.
Utility for Business Messaging
Facebook has been strongly promoting Messenger for business use cases like communicating with customers. Polling features could be useful for businesses collecting feedback from customers within Messenger.
Adding polls back could support Messenger’s evolution into a customer service and business messaging channel beyond just personal communication.
Top Alternatives to Polls on Messenger
Now that polls are gone from Messenger, fans of the feature may be wondering what other options exist for surveying friends or gathering opinions. A few top alternatives include:
Third-Party Poll Applications
Popular poll and survey tools like SurveyMonkey, Typeform, Google Forms, and Doodle could be used to create polls to share with Messenger groups. However, this lacks Messenger’s native polling ease and real-time results.
Instagram Polls
Instagram still supports polls in Stories and posts, so Messenger users can cross-post polls to Instagram feeds to reach friends there similarly. But Instagram lacks Messenger’s group chat capabilities.
Facebook Groups Polls
While native Messenger polls were removed, Facebook still supports polls in Facebook Groups. Group admins can create polls visible to group members. This allows gathering opinions from an entire group versus individual chats.
Third-Party Messenger Bots
There are Messenger bots like Polly and Surveybot that can be added to group conversations to enable polling via automated bots. However, native poll integration generally works more smoothly.
Conclusion
While the removal of polls from Facebook Messenger took away a beloved conversational feature, Facebook likely made this decision based on declining engagement data. Polls may simply have become an outdated component as Messenger continues evolving as a messaging platform.
Going forward, Facebook will focus resources on features more aligned with Messenger’s future priorities around customer service, commerce, and privacy. But fans of the polling feature shouldn’t entirely lose hope – Facebook could potentially reinstate polls someday if new strategic opportunities emerge around interactive messaging.
In the meantime, Messenger users have some alternative options through third-party apps and services if they want to continue creating polls and surveys to engage with friends. But native polls directly within Messenger provided a uniquely seamless experience that made polling go viral on the platform.