FOR better or for worse, it has woven its way into the fabric of modern life since its launch 15 years ago. Now figures show Facebook was the most downloaded app of the decade.
It’s the global number one?
The social networking giant, which launched in 2004 and is headquartered in California, has around 2.5 billion monthly active users, with data from American research firm, App Annie, now revealing that it was the most downloaded app of the last 10 years.
Facebook owns the bulk of the top five?
It owns four out the top five in the global decade chart, with Facebook Messenger in second place, WhatsApp in third and Instagram in fourth. Facebook purchased WhatsApp for around $16bn five years ago and Instagram for $1bn in 2012.
Fifth place?
It was taken up by Snapchat, which reportedly turned down a $3bn offer from Facebook in 2013.
So social media is taking over the world?
Looks like it. An App Annie spokesman said: “Communication and social media apps are consumer favourites, accounting for seven of the top 10 apps by downloads this decade.”
Privacy concerns haven’t put people off?
With hundreds of millions of downloads, it seems not. This is despite Facebook being ordered to pay a record $5bn fine to settle privacy concerns in July. The US Federal Trade Commission set the fine after an investigation into allegations that political consultancy company Cambridge Analytica improperly harvested the data of around 87 million Facebook users.
Political pressures?
Ahead of the UK election, Twitter announced it would ban all political ads from its platform, putting pressure on Facebook to follow suit – but CEO Mark Zuckerburg instead maintained solid support for allowing such ads, saying the "better approach is to work to increase transparency".
But the numbers just keep rising…
Facebook has kept on growing. In the third quarter of this year, it reached the 2.5bn figure, up from 2.41bn in the second quarter.
What else has been top of the charts?
App Annie's other figures show that when consumers have spent on their apps, video streaming and music have led the field. The pay-for apps downloaded most in the last decade see Netflix take the top spot, with dating app Tinder in second place. Other apps such as Spotify and YouTube feature in the top 10.
The most downloaded game of the decade?
A game called Subway Surfers, which was boosted by huge popularity in India, with Indian downloads accounting for 15 per cent of the total.
The rise of the smartphone plays a part?
App Annie says it has given "consumers a window to the internet in the palm of their hand”, with the “remarkable growth” set to continue next year. The spokesman said: “2019 has marked all-time highs for app downloads and consumer spend, and 2020 is set to be even bigger – with consumer spend projected to be over $30 billion on apps and nearly $80 billion on games."
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