@facebook.com no more

Facebook is officially retiring its email service @facebook.com. The social networking giant has begun notifying all its users that emails sent to their @facebook.com address will not be functional and will soon be forwarded to their primary email address.

The Verge reported that Facebook users could turn off this forwarding feature if they wish as, by default, it has been kept enabled. Users who have not entered their primary email address on their Facebook accounts will not receive forwarded messages.

"Most people have not been using their @facebook.com email address," said a spokesperson from Facebook. He also confirmed that the email service will be soon dissolved.

Facebook had launched its email service in November 2010 hoping to provide an inbox where users could send and receive emails. "It seems wrong that an email message from your best friend gets sandwiched between a bill and a bank statement," the company stated in its announcement blog post for the email feature. The email service didn't really catch on. Perhaps because Facebook never created a user friendly interface for emails in the first place.

The new no-email update brings another unfortunate side effect for Facebook.   Now, one can easily reach someone's primary email inbox by simply emailing their @facebook.com email address. These email addresses, by default, can be only accessible by friends and family. However, one can easily find out a person’s @facebook.com email address by hunting for their profile page on a search engine. Fortunately, Facebook has given the option to let you turn off mail forwarding.