Gotta love Facebook Messenger
Approximately 600 million of Facebook’s 1.44 billion users regularly use the platform to make calls and chat via the handy Messenger app. Businesses use the app for customer service and to keep up with their fanbase.
It used to be that when you sent a message you had no way of knowing if the recipient had received or read the message, but Facebook changed this in 2012 with the addition of the “read receipt” feature. This essentially allows you to see if your message has been read and at what time.
This is a great feature for senders, but not so great for recipients. You can no longer pretend you haven’t seen the message, because the sender can see you have indeed received it.
How to fly under the radar
Worry not: A new Chrome extension can help individuals and businesses alike avoid this situation. Unseen is a Chrome browser extension that allows you to read a message without sending out that “read receipt.” This is particularly useful for businesses that want to catch up on their Facebook messages, but cannot address each customer at the that particular moment.
The extension allows you to read the message, but avoid the situation where customers feel ignored because they can see you have read the message and they feel like you haven’t responded quickly enough. With Unseen, they will never know you opened the message.
How to use Unseen
To use Unseen, you will need to be using Google Chrome, and download the app from the Chrome Web Store. After the download completes, simply click on the icon with the blue circle which will appear between your “favorites” star and your customization/settings icon. As long as this icon is on, take as long as you like to reply to your Facebook messages and no one will know.
Please note that this will only work in a desktop environment. If you read your messages on your mobile, Unseen cannot help you. The same is true for the Facebook app that goes by the same name (Unseen) and functions in a similar manner. You can find the Facebook app, here.
