Facebook has revealed that WhatsApp processed a record feat of over 63 billion messages on New Year’s Eve at the tail end of 2016.
WhatsApp enjoyed a terrific 2016 – ringing in update after update that brought us features such as Snapchat-style image editing and the ability to make video calls. Yet the app truly reached its zenith on New Year’s Eve, where it broke a new record while handling over 63 billion messages.
That figure includes over 7.9 billion images and 2.4 billion videos – all coming from over 1 billion monthly active users.
Read: Facebook reveals South Africa‘s most-discussed topics in 2016
At Facebook’s F8 developer conference in April of 2016, Mark Zuckerberg cited that Messenger and WhatsApp jointly sent over 60 billion messages per day – leaving WhatsApp’s new record an even more inspiring feat.
The app – which was acquired by Facebook in October of 2014 for a figure of $21 billion – has had a bumper past year. Under Facebook’s guidance, the app has added a myriad of new features and has proceeded to leave behind older platforms such as Symbian and BlackBerry 10 in addition to legacy operating systems such as Android 2.2 and iOS 6 and below.
In return, the app has gained support for security additions such as end-to-end encryption and has added feature sets such as the ability to make voice calls, leave voice messages, and even GIF handling.
The app is undoubtedly set to grow in 2017, as rumours have indicated that the platform could gain support for a Snapchat ‘stories’ style feature dubbed Status, through which users would be able to leave self-destructing videos and images for their contacts in a similar manner to how Instagram’s Stories feature functions.
Read: Facebook agrees to stop using WhatsApp user data in the UK
What are your thoughts on WhatsApp’s new record? Can we expect to see that figure shattered by the end of 2017? Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Follow Bryan Smith on Twitter: @bryansmithSA
