Facebook, WhatsApp usage surges two-fold as countries go into lockdown

Since the advent of the COVID-19 crisis, messaging services have increased over 50 percent while time spent in the group calling (calls with three or more participants) have surged by over 1,000 percent during the last month.

The COVID-19 pandemic has turned life upside down for millions around the world. As this global public health crisis advances, governments are imposing lockdown and people are practicing social distancing to further curb its spread.

Amidst this crisis, social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp have witnessed a massive surge in usage. Facebook on Tuesday said that in many of the countries hit hardest by the virus, more specifically Italy, total messaging has increased more than 50 percent while voice and video calling on Messenger and WhatsApp have more than doubled over the last month.

According to Facebook, users in Italy are spending 70 percent more time across its apps. Since the advent of the crisis, messaging services have increased over 50 percent while time spent in the group calling (calls with three or more participants) have surged by over 1,000 percent during the last month.

Image Credit: Facebook

"Much of the increased traffic is happening on our messaging services, but we've also seen more people using our feed and stories products to get updates from their family and friends," Facebook said in a blog post.

"Maintaining stability throughout these spikes in usage is more challenging than usual now that most of our employees are working from home. We're monitoring usage patterns carefully, making our systems more efficient, and adding capacity as required."