Skip to main content

Facebook lets you name conversations in chat drop-down

burglar caught after facebook mishap user
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Facebook has rolled out a tiny new feature that gives users the ability to name conversations. This has been available via Facebook Messenger since this past spring, but now the option has rolled out to desktop as well. 

When you start or respond to a group conversation – when you’re using Chat and not in Messages proper (i.e., the News Feed view, where conversations pop up at the bottom of your page), you’ll see a prompt asking you to “Name this conversation.” 

name conversation fb
Image used with permission by copyright holder

And this wasn’t just available to a thread I started – one that I was a part of that someone else initiated offered me the option to name it. 

other name conversation
Image used with permission by copyright holder

And when you jump into the Messages proper view, pulling the inbox into full screen, there’s an option to edit the name of the conversation as well as upload a photo. 

edit conversation
Image used with permission by copyright holder

After that, the sidebar thumbnail of your conversation tread will be the photo you changed it to. This feature has been available for awhile, but the drop down option within chat to name your conversation from the chat view in desktop is new. It’s a simple new update, but one that just shows Facebook is constantly trying to fill out is messaging capabilities – as well as trying to unify Chat and Messages and Messenger into a more complete, singular conversation client. 

Molly McHugh
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Before coming to Digital Trends, Molly worked as a freelance writer, occasional photographer, and general technical lackey…
WhatsApp now lets you control who can see your profile
The WhatsApp app icon on a phone with other messaging apps.

WhatsApp is now letting you decide who gets to view certain aspects of your profile.

This week, Meta's popular messaging and calling app announced via a tweet that it is offering new privacy options for its users, including the ability to choose "who from your contact list can see your Profile Photo, About, and Last Seen status."

Read more
Three reasons Facebook/Meta is shutting down its face recognition system
facebook privacy mark zuckerberg

Meta, Facebook's new parent company, announced on Tuesday that Facebook would be eliminating its face-recognition system in the coming weeks. More than a third of Facebook's regular users take advantage of face-recognition features, so this change will impact a number of people.

If users are currently "opted in" to the face-recognition setting, the templates used to identify each user will be deleted. There will be no more automatic facial recognition in photos or videos, either. Another area this will impact is Automatic Alt Text, or AAT, which is used to describe images to visually impaired or blind individuals. Once the face-recognition system is gone, so is the ability to specifically identify each person in a photo using facial recognition.

Read more
Facebook about to rebrand under a new name, report claims
facebook hacked

Facebook will announce a major company restructure next week that will see it operate under a new name, a person claiming to have knowledge of the matter said this week.

The unnamed source told The Verge that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants to make the change to highlight the company’s ambitions beyond its core social networking product.

Read more