Facebook Introduces Messenger Platform With E-commerce Component

Facebook Inc. launched Messenger Platform on Wednesday at the company's annual developer conference to allow developers to build apps and functions within the traditional Facebook Messenger app. The platform will launch with 40 apps, though that number is expected to expand as Facebook opens the developer kit on Wednesday. The company also introduced a way to track online shipments through Messenger, a service Facebook said it hopes will humanize e-commerce. Messenger, which Facebook split from its core Facebook app in 2014, has 600 million users, according to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Shares of Facebook fell 1.8% to $83.71 in recent trade, just an hour into the company's two-day conference.