A few weeks ago, my good friend had her phone stolen and I had the chance to witness firsthand just how much an average smartphone user is dependent on their gadget. I later asked my friend what was it that she had missed the most about the phone, and without thinking for a second she fired back: chatting on Facebook!
Obviously, an answer like this would have made no sense just 10 years ago, but today messaging apps like my friend’s beloved Facebook Messenger are the main form of social and business communication for millions of users around the globe.
The worldwide popularity of messaging apps has been steadily growing year after year. In early 2016, mobile messaging apps were used by 1.4 million people in the world, which was an increase of 31.6% compared to the previous year.
As the number of messaging app users continues to rise, it is expected that by 2018, the global number of users will reach a whopping 2 billion. This means that by this time next year, 80% of smartphone users will also be using one of the 5 most popular messaging apps in the world: WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Viber, Line, and WeChat.
Since these 5 messaging app giants are only going to become even more popular in the future, we bring you a stunning visual guide to help you learn all you need to know about WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Viber, Line, and WeChat. Here are some of the facts you’ll find visualized in the graphic below:
