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It’s proving to be a good week for Facebook as two of the social network’s key apps reported hitting impressive user milestones.
First, Messenger revealed it had hit 1.2 billion monthly active users – a feat that makes it the second most popular iOS app of all time (behind the native Facebook app), the social media site claims.
However, the rate of growth hasn’t exactly been blistering – Messenger hit a billion active users in July 2016 – but for an app that began life as a sub-feature of Facebook it’s still impressive nonetheless.
Meanwhile, Instagram has also announced that its new Stories feature – controversial for its striking similarity to Snapchat’s own Story mode – is now being used by 200 million people every day.
The feature was added in the second half of last year and has been followed by a series of eye-catching feature tweaks by Facebook’s family of apps that mimic the set-up of Snapchat.
Stories-like features have since been added to WhatsApp and Facebook, while the Facebook app also has a native camera complete with filters and stickers, again similar to the core features of Snapchat.
However, the high user uptake suggests Facebook’s strategy is working, and users are taking to the new options in large numbers as the social network looks to expand its appeal among younger users who have traditionally been drawn to Snapchat.
