Despite initial backlash following Facebook's acquisition of WhatsApp, the instant messaging service continues to grow its user base at an impressive pace. According to a blog post by co-founder Jan Koum yesterday, its active users have surpassed 500 million, an increase of 35 million in just two months.
Koum says that the countries where WhatsApp is growing fastest are Russia, Brazil, Mexico and India. He also notes that, in addition to text messages, users also use WhatsApp to exchange multimedia files over the Internet. As a result, 700 million photos and 100 million videos are exchanged on the platform on a daily basis.
To add WhatsApp to its “quiver,” Facebook will pay $16 billion, the largest amount it has ever paid for a company acquisition. The deal was announced on February 19 and sparked reactions from some users, who predicted that the service would change its operation or data management policy.
However, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on February 23, Koum assured that the service would remain independent from Facebook, despite the acquisition. He also stated that by that time active users had reached 465 million, also revealing that the service's immediate plans include support for voice calls.
Source: kathimerini.gr
