The New Year is looking good for Facebook’s Messenger app: according to the company, the standalone platform garnered a total of roughly 800 million users, making it the fastest-growing app of 2015, with Facebook again coming in as top dog as the highest-trending app of last year, according to Nielsen.
Facebook Messenger had one of the “highest year-over-year change[s],” with a 31 percent user increase since 2014, the year when the app was introduced, with 96 million average unique users each month. While it ranked third overall — only Facebook and YouTube topped it — the app beat out popular staples like Instagram and Apple Music.
2015 was a hallmark year for the social media site’s messenger platform with the introduction of video chat technology, as well as customizable options for users, such as colors, emojis and nicknames. Facebook also implemented features like the ability to send or receive money from friends via Facebook conversation, the AI digital virtual assistant M and launched a transportation platform with Uber.
“We created all these experiences with a mindset of helping hundreds of millions of people manage their daily interactions with people, businesses, and services more seamlessly than ever,” said David Marcus, the vice president of Messaging Products at Facebook, in a statement posted on the site’s blog.
Despite the success with its non-SMS-based app, Facebook is determined not to rest on its laurels.
“[800 million users is] a good number, but we believe we have so much more opportunity ahead of us,” said Marcus.
[“source-techtimes”]
