Why WhatsApp is on course to link 1 billion people around the world. WhatsApp, an instant messaging service is on the verge of connecting a billion people all over the world. The mobile phone app which has been acquired by Facebook at a cost of $19 billion is expected to grow significantly in the coming months with the 1 billion users seen as the major milestone in its history. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg who is now the new owner of WhatsApp confirmed that a new voice calling service will be added to the app in a move designed to cement its massive popularity in the world today. Now, over half a billion people are using WhatsApp for messaging. The app at this rate is looking to clock a billion users in less than two years.
A lot of mobile app experts note that WhatsApp is by far the most engaging messaging application that has hit the market in recent years. According to reports at least 70% of all users who use WhatsApp use it everyday making the app one of the most popular platforms to connect and share. Mark Zuckerberg agrees that hitting the one billion mark will be a big statement from WhatsApp. Despite its acquisition by Facebook, the WhatsApp brand is expected to remain intact moving forward. The mobile social media boom over the last few years has been amazing.
Although major social media platforms have emerged during this period, WhatsApp has arguably been the most recent success in social networking. Social media experts say that the recent acquisition by Facebook will help WhatsApp realize its potential and become one of the major social networking platforms in the world. Facebook has noted time and again that it shares the same vision with WhatsApp. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook has gone on record saying that they will support the initial WhatsApp concept in order to make it a big separate brand. For many skeptics though, it is not easy for WhatsApp to reach a billion users in just a matter of a few years.
The social media space is seen by many as very competitive and each platform is spending billions everyday to get that one user. However, the usage rate in WhatsApp is what makes the app and its new owners very optimistic. The fact that 70% of all WhatsApp users use it every day is remarkable and in fact, very few social media networks can match this usage rate. In addition to this, Facebook has confirmed that it is now working on adding new exciting features to the app in order to make it more appealing to new users and also more efficient to current users. Although adding a voice call option is the only feature out on the public domain, it is very clear that more is yet to come.
WhatsApp was the first successful instant messaging service that is designed specifically for mobile. The app’s success in the recent past underpins the growing shift from computer based social media to mobile based social networking. Facebook didn’t pay $19 billion to acquire WhatsApp for no reason. Mark Zuckerberg himself acknowledges that the future of social networking is hinged on mobile and ten years down the line, maybe this investment will be worth the money.
Achieving a target of one billion users in the coming few years has its own challenges but Facebook and WhatsApp have the necessary resources and capacity to pull it off. When that happens, it will be safe to say that indeed WhatsApp is yet another big goldmine in the social media space in recent years.
The author of this article is a passionate social media blogger. She is also a major essay service online contributor for Essay Jedi.
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