Facebook yesterday announced that its Messenger service has hit a major milestone: the software is now being used by more than one billion people every month to message their friends and family. Messenger saw a major surge in popularity after it was decoupled from the main Facebook mobile client, and especially since becoming a software platform in its own right with chat bots, apps, money payments, expanded emojis and other features.
Facebook Messenger is a free download from the App Store.
By comparison, Messenger celebrated 800 million monthly users in January, meaning the app has added an impressive 200 million new users in just six months. And with a billion monthly active users, Messenger is now being used by one out of every seven people in the world.
A few impressive stats:
- 22 million GIFs are sent through Messenger every day, or about 254 per second
- Angry Birds is the most popular sticker pack on Messenger
- 300 million flowers were sent via Messenger on Mother’s Day
- 360 million chats mentioning Valentine’s Day were sent on February 14, 2016
Check out Facebook’s video celebrating the milestone.
“We’re grateful for all the people who are sending billions of messages every day and we hope to send one billion thank yous in the form of a new floating balloon gift that everyone can use to celebrate,” said Facebook.
To activate the animation and add a touch of whimsy and delight to any chat, send a balloon emoji to your friends. At any rate, one billion people using Messenger on a regular basis is an impressive achievement no matter how you look at it, don’t you think?
Download Facebook Messenger at no charge via the App Store.
Source: Facebook