5 reasons why MSN Messenger will always be better than WhatsApp and Snapchat

Keeping in touch with friends now comes easy. Thanks to growing internet connectivity and smartphones that have yielded social networking apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat among countless others.

However, there was a time when MSN Messenger was the coolest platform to stay connected with friends. Launched before the turn of the new century, MSN Messenger was the pioneer of social networking messengers. Sadly, growing popularity of messaging apps led Microsoft to phase out MSN Messenger in 2013.



Those messaging apps may have taken over as are favourite tools to socialise. However, the once iconic MSN Messenger will forever hold a special place in the hearts of many.

Here are 5 memories that remind us how MSN Messenger was a lot more fun than Facebook and WhatsApp.

1. Sending nudges



WhatsApp’s double blue tick feature lets you know when a friend has received and read your message. Though convenient, the feature can also be a curse when your friend doesn’t reply causing endless frustration. MSN’s Nudge feature was a blessing in such circumstances.

Though heavily abused, a single tap on the nudge button would fill your friend's room with a shrill buzzing noise and was loud enough even to wake the dead.

2. Status switching



Facebook and WhatsApp only give you the option to appear online to other users which means your friends have ever-present access to drop you messages. This removes the option to chat discretely with some users, something only offered by MSN. In addition to this you also had the option to go offline and then back online just to send a pop-up to all of your friends and tell them you ever there.

3. Emojis



MSN may not have created the emoji. However, it sure was the first platform to make them popular. Emoji’s back then weren’t as interactive as now. However, they were a lot more simplistic which in essence made them more honest. Some of the most popular included a devil smiley, sexually suggestive winky face and a cool dude with sunglasses.

4. Show what I’m listening to



The ‘Show what I’m listening to’ status feature allowed users to sync their music player with the MSN Messenger and also served as a measure of how cool someone was. The pressure was high though since having the wrong song pop up could end up making you uncool in no time.



Facebook and WhatsApp have now shifted the emphasis to pictures and appearance hence creating what we call the selfie generation.

5. The excitement of using the Messenger

Instant chat options that we get with Facebook and WhatsApp have taken away the excitement that users felt when they used MSN. Messenger was something new back in the day and users couldn't wait to get home from school to get online. Chatting then felt exciting. Given that WhatsApp and Facebook are now more services of convenience than enjoyment, this has, to some extent, been lost.