Under the radar

Facebook indicated in April that it was planning to change its users’ default email addresses from servers like Gmail and Yahoo to the @facebook.com suffix, in order to make them consistent across the site.

“We are providing every Facebook user with his or her own Facebook email address because we find that many users find it useful to connect with each other” explained the company in a brief statement.

Revenue Raiser

Emails sent to and from @facebook.com email addresses will be visible to members alongside posts sent through the network’s messaging system.

By keeping users in its ecosystem, Facebook could potentially derive data from email correspondence (much the same way Google does with Gmail), leading to more targeted ads for users, and more advertising revenue for the social network.  

Push for privacy

However the success of @facebook.com will lie in consumer's appetite for the new product, with the move attracting criticism for being opt-out, rather than opt-in.

The new feature comes in the same week Facebook launched, then quickly withdrew due to privacy concerns, Find Friends Nearby – a feature that allowed users to find one another using GPS.

Change is going to come

While controversial, Facebook plans to stay with the current format but says users are under no obligation to use the email service.

Users can restore their original email in their Facebook profile settings.