Could Facebook Email Service Be A Gmail Killer?

Do you think, the new Facebook email service become a Gmail killer?

Since the launch of Gmail on April 1, 2004, millions of new people have fallen in love with it every month. As of November 2010, it had 193.3 million users monthly. Incidentally, just two months before the Launch of Gmail, Facebook was launched in February of 2004 and as of January 2011^[update], Facebook has more than 600 million active users.

Towards the end of 2010 ,Facebook had announced its all new Messages which offers the users of Facebook with an email id with @facebook.com domain name. Just like Gmail, Facebook also didn’t open the email to all its users at once. They asked the user to send their request asking for an invite and the same is being rolled out in a phased manner.

Luckily, I’ve received my new Facebook email – its sethi(dot)Ankur(at)facebook(dot)com

Would be interested to hear your views whether Facebook Email Service Be A Gmail Killer?

How do I set up a free @facebook.com email address?

To set up a free @facebook.com address, go to your Messages view and click the “Claim your Facebook email” link.

Your email address will match your public username, for example:

Profile: facebook.com/username
Email: username@facebook.com

If you don’t have a username yet, you can choose one when you create your email address.

Once you set up your email address, people can email you using any traditional email system (e.g., Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail), and the emails will be delivered to your Facebook Messages. When you send messages to external email addresses, the emails will be formatted to look like Facebook messages, including your name, your profile picture and your message.

Why would I want to set up a Facebook email address? How does email work with messages?

1. It’s free and easy to set up.

2. Having your email integrated with your messages, chats and texts makes it easier to check them all at once. And if you’re looking for a message later, you don’t have to worry about how it was sent since all your different types of messages are in one place.

3. Your Facebook messages are compatible with traditional email systems (e.g., Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail). When people send you emails from these external systems, they’re delivered directly to your Facebook Messages. And when you send messages to external email addresses, they’re formatted to look like your messages on Facebook, including your name and profile picture along with your message.

4. Owning your @facebook.com address makes it easier for friends and family who are not on Facebook yet to connect with you.

5. Your other email addresses may change over time, but your Facebook email never does.

Interesting fact about Gmail.com

Before its acquisition by Google, the gmail.com domain name was used by a free e-mail service offered by Garfield.com, online home of the comic strip Garfield. After moving to a different domain, that service has since been discontinued. As of 22 June 2005, Gmail’s canonical URI changed from http://gmail.google.com/gmail/ to http://mail.google.com/mail/. As of November 2010, those who typed in the former URI were redirected to the latter.