5 Most Popular Instant Messaging Apps

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1. Whatsapp

Total number of active monthly users in 2020 (in millions of people): 2,000

Easily topping the list of the 5 most popular instant messaging apps is WhatsApp, with a whopping 2 billion users. Despite the recent controversy and the many more which have engulfed the messaging app, it seems like there is no one even close to dethroning it from the top. While many thought Facebook was overpaying when it purchased WhatsApp in 2014 for $19.3, it now actually seems like a shrewd purchase.

Among the many controversies that WhatsApp has been engaged in was mob violence in India. There are no checks on WhatsApp for what’s real and what’s not. And so, people make big groups and one person can easily spread fake news with no checks and balances and no repercussions. This is what happened in 2018 in India where lynch mobs killed innocent people due to fake messages accusing the people of trying to abduct children. However, I do think that the responsibility is less on WhatsApp and more on the Indians and the lynch mob, who were ready to take lives without even verifying facts.

Pixabay/Public Domain

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