As of February 2025, two billion users were accessing the WhatsApp messenger on a monthly basis. The app’s reach in usage penetration is particularly strong in markets outside the United States, and it is one of the most popular mobile social apps worldwide. WeChat amassed over 1.38 billion users, and Facebook Messenger amassed around 947 million users worldwide. Instant messaging is a type of online chat which offers real-time text transmission via internet. Since the appearance of the smartphone and the subsequent explosion of mobile apps, low-cost or free chat and social messaging apps have proven themselves as a cheap alternative to operator-based text messaging via SMS. Many messenger apps offer features such as group chats, the exchange of graphics, video and even audio messages as well as stickers or emoticons.

In March 2024, seven out of ten respondents in Russia used WhatsApp, which was the highest share compared to other messenger applications for mobile phones. The share of Russians who used Telegram reached 51 percent, while the third most popular messenger was Viber. Messenger use in Russia Almost 80 percent of Russians used instant messaging platforms in 2023, as compared to 84 percent in Brazil and 71 percent in the United Kingdom (UK). Among internet users, the share of online chat and messenger services consumers in Russia stood at 93.5 percent, one percentage point below the global average. WhatsApp in Russia While other social media platforms by Meta Platforms are banned in Russia, WhatsApp can be used in the country. Users aged 25 to 34 years spent the most time on the messenger, at 36 minutes per day in the first quarter of 2023. The penetration rate of WhatsApp in Russia was around 84 percent as of 2022, which was lower than in Brazil and Italy, but higher than in Sweden and Australia.

Over three billion people use messaging apps, making them one of the most popular app types. For most people, mobile messaging consists of two platforms: Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp....

In 2023, almost all Hungarians who used the internet at least weekly also used Facebook Messenger. Viber was the second most popular chat program, with 38 percent of respondents using it.

When it comes to Poles communicating with their friends and family through mobile apps, the Facebook messaging app was the most frequently chosen mobile app. As of February 2022, 86 percent of Polish people used the Messenger application to communicate with others. WhatsApp ranked second, with 54 percent of respondents using the app. Polish instant messaging client Gadu-Gadu came second to last with approximately one in 10 respondents communicating through the app.

The profile of a Messenger user 

Mobile communication in Poland has been dominated by Facebook messenger. In January 2022, there were over 18 million Messenger users in Poland, which constituted an increase of roughly 1.5 million users compared to the year before. The majority of the app’s users were between 25 and 34 years old, with women dominating the age group share. Moreover, the same age group made up the highest share of the social media advertising audience Facebook, Instagram, and FB Messenger in Poland.

Mobile messaging 

 Mobile messaging is a type of instant online chat that offers real-time text transmission via the internet. In Poland, mobile devices are used by almost 63 percent of users to access the virtual world, with Samsung and Xiaomi holding the largest share of the smartphone market in the country. Therefore, Poles are open to communicating with others through mobile apps. Just over 32 percent of average internet users and almost 68 percent of Poles threatened with Internet addiction use the internet every day or nearly every day to contact friends via messengers such as Messenger (Facebook), WhatsApp, or GG (Gadu-Gadu). Moreover, almost half of Poles enjoy using emoticons as they find the virtual smileys an important way of expressing their emotions.

According to a September 2021 survey conducted in the Philippines, an overwhelming majority of 98 percent of the country's adult population used Messenger to communicate with family members and/or close friends. Following by a huge margin was Viber which was used by five percent of surveyed Filipino internet users.

In 2018, 83 percent of the population using the internet in Hungary chatted via Facebook Messenger on a weekly basis. The second most popular messaging program in the country was Viber with a user share of nearly 40 percent.

In January 2025, Meta-owned chat and communication app WhatsApp was the most downloaded mobile messenger app worldwide, with over 57 million downloads. Mobile social and communication app Snapchat ranked second with approximately 30 million downloads, while Telegram ranked third with approximately 27.6 million download worldwide.

WhatsApp is estimated to have reached almost three billion unique active users worldwide in June 2024, up by seven percent compared to the corresponding month in 2023. The popular instant messaging platform, which hit two billion monthly active users in February 2022, was the leading communication channel for global smartphone users in 2024.

As of May 2022, about 97.7 percent of respondents in Malaysia stated that their favorite communication application was Whatsapp. Meanwhile, approximately 56.4 percent of respondents stated that they used Telegram, the second most popular communication app in the country.

In 2022, WhatsApp was the most downloaded messenger app in Spain, with over 85.8 million downloads in the examined year. Facebook Messenger ranked second, with almost 48.4 million downloads from Spanish users in 2022, while Telegram ranked third with 28.9 million downloads during the examined period.

WhatsApp was the most popular messenger in Kazakhstan, according to a survey conducted in 2022, as per over 80 percent of respondents. The second most commonly used messaging platform in the country was Telegram.

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2023 among mobile messenger users, 94.6 percent of surveyed mobile messenger users stated that they use KakaoTalk. It was by far the most used messenger service in South Korea. KakaoTalk’s massive user base In South Korea, almost every person with access to the internet and a suitable device is using KakaoTalk. In 2024, domestic user numbers amounted to almost 49 million active users. Over the years, user numbers have only increased, with only one major fluctuation being recorded in 2018. The popularity of the messenger app has also stretched to other countries. Including its domestic users, KakaoTalk’s user base breached the 50-million mark back in 2018. What other Kakao Corp. services are commonly used?  Kakao Corporation, the internet-based company running KakaoTalk, offers numerous services. Many of these can be accessed via the messenger app itself and include services related to navigation, transportation, entertainment, and finances. In fact, the mobile banking service Kakao Bank attracted close to 23 million users by the end of 2023 despite being only established as a digital bank in 2017.

In 2021, WhatsApp was the most popular social media messenger in Russia, with a usage index of 82 percent. The usage index of one of WhatsApp's main competitors in the region - Telegram, was at 52 percent. Viber ranked third, used by nearly one half of Russians who had it installed on their devices.

WhatsApp in Russia

As of August 2021, WhatsApp accounted for the largest volume of monthly active users at nearly 77 million users in Russia, which was more than twice as much as the monthly reach of its Russian analog – Telegram. Furthermore, it was the most used messenger application during the self-isolation period in the country exceeding 1.5 million views on March 17, 2020. The number of WhatsApp users was projected to reach 83.9 million by 2025.

Social media usage during the pandemic in Russia

In 2020, significant traffic growth on social media platforms was attributed to the COVID-19 outbreak. As of April 2020, messengers were the most popular means of communication, as per over 90 percent of respondents who worked remotely. Of roughly 60 percent of Russians who reported more frequent usage of social messengers after the pandemic, nearly 90 percent meant to keep the usage levels at the same extent after the abolition of restrictions.

With a penetration rate of around 92 percent, Whatsapp was the most used social network in Indonesia. However, all the other widely known social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook also enjoy a high penetration rate, making Indonesia one of the largest social media markets in the world. Social media in Indonesia The increasing number of internet users and the increasing affordability of smartphones has successfully changed the social media environment in Indonesia. A large share of Indonesians use smartphones for almost everything, making their daily lives more convenient For most Indonesians, social media is a convenient way to contact families in remote locations of the archipelago; it allows them to continuously interact with friends and it keeps them up-to-date with the daily news. There are quite a few who suspect that the congestion in large cities and the associated waiting times have led to social platforms enjoying ever greater popularity. The downside of social media With social media being one of the leading news sources in Indonesia, it has the power to shape public perception, sometimes negatively. The country is highly vulnerable to online hoaxes, which led the government to take action in 2019. Following electoral riots, authorities temporarily restricted access to major platforms like YouTube, Whatsapp, Facebook, and Instagram to curb the spread of fake news.