Using WhatsApp? You 'officially' belong to a family of 2 billion members

If you are on messaging app WhatsApp, you are officially part of a family that has 2 billion users, Facebook said on Wednesday. The WhatsApp has thus become the second social media platform to hit that figure.

Facebook was first to hit that figure with its current population pegged at about 2.50 billion monthly active users as of Dec. 31, the company said.

WhatsApp is owned by Facebook after they purchased the mobile-messaging startup for $19 billion with the aim to boost its popularity, especially among the youth.

WhatsApp did not specify how it calculated the number of users, but said it had 500 million users in 2014, when Facebook Inc bought the app.

Facebook which also owns photo sharing app Instagram has in recent times embarked on an aggressive mission to to boost revenue from its high-growth units. “It has been building out WhatsApp’s e-commerce tools, as it moves toward monetizing the app,” a Reuters report noted.

In November 2019, WhatsApp launched WhatsApp Business app, – a feature for small businesses, the main patrons were offered a “mobile storefront” to showcase their wares with images and prices.