Facebook Sees Sharp Surge In Users; Over 3 Billion Monthly Users Across Its Platforms

While people are staying indoors, many social media sites and apps have seen a sharp surge in its number of users. Mark Zuckerberg announced in a post on Facebook today that for the first time ever, more than 3 billion people are actively using its services including WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, on a monthly basis. Out of these 3 billion, 2.6 billion people account for the ones using Facebook alone and over 2.3 billion people use at least one of these services every day.

Zuckerberg further stated that in places that have been hit hardest by the Coronavirus outbreak, the messaging volume has increased by more than 50%. Voice and video calls have more than doubled across Messenger and WhatsApp. “In Italy, for example, we've seen up to 70% more time spent across our apps, Instagram and Facebook Live views doubled in one week, and we’ve also seen time in group video calling increase by over 1,000% in March,” writes Zuckerberg.

The post also talks about how Facebook is currently focussing on three main areas including helping people stay connected, assisting the public health response, and working towards economic recovery, especially for small businesses that have been affected the most by the COVID-19 pandemic. To assist with public health response, Facebook has set up a Covid-19 Information Center at the top of everyone's Facebook app to connect users with authoritative health information and has so far directed more than 2 billion people to it.

The company has also implemented measures to fight misinformation and hoaxes around COVID-19 on the platform by not allowing such posts on the platform. It has partnered with independent fact-checkers, who have marked more than 4,000 pieces of content around COVID-19 as false. There are also many other privacy-related changes that the company has worked towards.

Additionally, Facebook has also announced a number of new product improvements around video presence. “Our view is that video presence includes three categories -- video calling, video rooms, and live video -- and we plan to lead and offer the best services for social uses in each of those different categories,” states Zuckerberg. Facebook announced a new product recently, called Messenger Rooms, which lets you create a room for any activity or event you want. You can send a link to your friends or have them discover your room on Facebook for them to virtually hang out with you.

I really want to thank all of our employees who are working hard to deliver these services, and everyone who has believed in us and supported our company over the years to help us get to the point where we can deliver these services for people around the world”, mentions Zuckerberg.