Facebook notices sharp surge, for the first time over 3 billion monthly users across its platforms

For the first time ever, more than 3 billion people are actively using its services including WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, on a monthly basis, announced Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.

According to Mashable, out of these 3 billion, 2.6 billion people account for the ones using Facebook alone and over 2.3 billion people use at least one of these services every day.

Zuckerberg further announced in a Facebook post that in places that have been hit hardest by the COVID-19 outbreak, the messaging volume has increased more than 50 per cent. Voice and video calls have more than doubled across Messenger and WhatsApp.

"In Italy, for example, we've seen up to 70 per cent more time spent across our apps, Instagram and Facebook Live views doubled in one week, and we've also seen time in group video calling increase by over 1,000 per cent in March.

The post also talks about how Facebook is currently focussing towards three main areas including helping people stay connected, assisting the public health response, and working towards economic recovery, especially for small businesses that have been affected the most by the COVID-19 pandemic.

To assist with public health response, Facebook has set up a Covid-19 Information Center at the top of everyone's Facebook app to connect users with authoritative health information and has so far directed more than 2 billion people to it.

The company has also implemented measures to fight misinformation around coronavirus on the platform by not allowing such posts on the platform. It has partnered with independent fact-checkers, who have marked more than 4,000 pieces of content around COVID-19 as false. There are also many other privacy-related changes that the company has worked towards.