2016 Year the Phone Number Disappears?

With 800 million people using Facebook’s Messenger app every month, it is understandable that

David Marcus, Facebook VP of Messaging Products, would say that 2016 is the year we see “the disappearance of the phone number.”

Many of you have been hearing such predictions for a decade or two, so will not pay too much attention. It is not that use of Messenger and other social messaging apps will stall. Indeed, it seems certain usage will grow.

But there simply is too much necessity for phone numbers, globally, for other reasons. Many of you know all the reasons why people do not rely on “phone numbers” to dial or reach people.

Underneath, in the network, there is little way to avoid such conventions.