Facebook might have spent a fortune on mobile messaging program WhatsApp, shelling out $19 billion for the service, but if the latest user numbers indicate anything it's that perhaps it was worth the investment. The app set a record on Wednesday, with users sending and receiving more than 64 billion messages.
WhatsApp announced this number on Twitter, stating that 20 billion messages were sent and 44 billion received. The math doesn't look like it adds up on that, I know, but the reason for the discrepancy is group messaging--users send a single message to multiple people, and so the number of received messages is inflated by a good amount.
Still, the numbers are extremely impressive, even if you just look at the sent messages. This record beat out the high usually reserved for New Year's Eve, when people are sending messages to their family and friends in large volumes.
Facebook put a lot of value in the user base WhatsApp possesses, and users doesn't look like they're going anywhere. When Facebook purchased the company, users feared for their security and privacy due to the belief that the social media giant wanted their personal information and message content, and many left for other services.
WhatsApp assured users that this is not the case and they would not have made the deal if it compromised their users' privacy or the company's own values. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg also spoke on privacy recently, criticizing the government's spying activity and even called President Obama to complain about the NSA.
Going by these messaging numbers, it looks safe to say that not enough users left the service to cause any alarm, and it's currently more active than ever before. Facebook and WhatsApp also added voice call services to the app shortly after the buyout.
Source: CNET