These are the most used social media messaging apps globally

Similarweb, an Israeli web analytics company, recently collected data from one hundred countries to find which messaging applications are mostly used globally. Since last year, the top 3 positions are still the same, with Meta-owned WhatsApp and Messenger in the first and second spots, followed by Telegram in 3rd. It was found that WhatsApp ranked number one in sixty-three countries, whereas Messenger did so in sixteen countries. And Telegram, despite going down the chart, still ended up as the top app in ten countries.

WhatsApp, without any competition, is the leading app globally, with almost 90 percent of its users using the app daily. The app is visited almost twenty-two times a day, with users spending roughly one hour on the platform. Other than these three applications, the remaining three positions were taken by Viber, a Japanese app, followed by Line, another similar app, and Snapchat at the sixth position.

These top six apps represent almost ninety-seven percent of the data collected from the countries. Based on world population statistics, almost 26 percent of the human population visits a minimum of one application out of six. WhatsApp leads eighty-eight percent of the European market, which means that eighty-eight percent of European users visit the platform regularly, whereas, in the United States, the app is visited daily by sixty percent of the users. And as for Australia and Canada, the figures are up at 63 percent and 70 percent, respectively.

Though Facebook Messenger holds the second spot and has a strong global influence, its daily visitors are far behind those of WhatsApp. Compared to WhatsApp, only fifty-eight percent of the audience comes back daily. On the other hand, in Canada and Australia, the daily comeback rates are, respectively, seventy percent and seventy-six percent, which shows a strong influence in these markets. Telegram held the top position in ten countries, whereas in twenty countries, Telegram was listed among the top five applications. And among fifty-three countries, the app was on the top 10 list.

Although Viber may not be as popular as the other messaging apps, those who use it are well familiar with how secure the platform is. Not just this, but the whole app is easy to use, which places it among the top 6 lists. Snapchat has a high revisit rate, however, the platform itself is mostly used by young users under the age of eighteen to twenty-four. Due to it being an engaging platform, the platform experiences high comeback numbers.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

A TikTok Ban In The US Is Not Coming Soon Due To This Big Reason

For a while now, we’ve been hearing a lot about how the US is making arrangements for a foolproof ban on the popular social media platform TikTok across the country.

The company's CEO was requested to Testify before the Senate yesterday in the country’s capital city of Washington DC and he did go very well prepared with his testaments that were all pre-written.

But the news of a ban on the app has been taking place for a good few years now. It really began to become intense for a fraction of a minute in 2020 under the leadership of US president Donal Trump but even then, it never receive a ban after all.

However, we do give full credit to the US Congress for never failing at trying. But now, toward the end of 2022, the ban speculations are running at full speed when the country opted to ban the app from all devices possessed by government officials. Moreover, they called the company out for being a huge threat to the nation’s security.

The decision was awfully interesting but did nothing in terms of stopping usage data from exiting the country’s borders because in case you weren’t aware, TikTok’s data collection goes far above the usual flagship applications.

With time, things began to look a little disturbing and yesterday, the US Congress was at it again. They really put China’s strong relationship with the platform on display. But similar to events in the past, we don’t exact the ban to actually ensue due to the simple reason of money.

In case you don’t know, it’s all about money talks, and in the world of politics, money does scream. Let’s not forget how the leading app is making a lot of revenue through its American market. But not only this, we are seeing the rate of revenue through iOS apps grow to new heights, almost like the firm is printing currency.

Meanwhile, thanks to data from App Intelligence by AF, we know that the net revenue of the TikTok app on the Play Store is a small error away from hitting the staggering value of $1,000,000,000 by last year. Yes, that’s one billion US dollars and we’re not even including revenue taken in from China. Also, this is what is left after the app is paying out its dues to Apple for having the privilege of taking space on its App Store.

The reason why the App Store was focused on so much and all nations were included other than China as the app’s main driver for revenue is indeed America. And so if the app does get banned here, it’s bound to receive a ban in other nations too.

We saw that arise with the government of the UK banning the app and soon after that, countries like New Zealand opted to pick up the pace and follow in its footsteps.

Read next: India's TikTok Ban Paves the Way for Domestic and International Social Media Competitors, Could the US Follow Suit?
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Instagram's Upcoming Feature Aims to Revolutionize Fundraising Efforts!

Instagram is reportedly developing a new feature that will allow users to add a "donate" button to their posts, making it easier for them to boost funds for various causes and charities.

According to a tweet by app researcher, Alessandro Paluzzi, the upcoming feature was discovered in the code of the latest version of Instagram. He shared a screenshot that showed the "Donate" option alongside other options such as "Tag Products" and "Adds Location" in the post-creation screen.

This feature could be a game-changer for individuals and organizations looking to raise money for important causes. Currently, Instagram does offer a "Donation Sticker" feature for Instagram Stories, which allows users to add a sticker to their story that directs followers to a donation page. However, the ability to add a donate button directly to posts could provide even more visibility and accessibility for fundraising efforts.

It is unclear at this time exactly how the new feature will work or when it will be rolled out to all Instagram users. However, Paluzzi's tweet suggests that Instagram is actively working on the feature, and it could be released shortly.

The potential impact of the donate button feature is significant, particularly for non-profit organizations and charitable causes that rely on fundraising efforts to support their work. With over one billion active users on Instagram, the platform has the potential to provide a massive audience for those looking to raise money and awareness for important causes.

Furthermore, the ability to add a donate button to posts could make it easier for individuals to support causes that they care about. With a simple click, users could donate without having to leave the app, streamlining the process and increasing the likelihood of people donating.

The move towards integrating charitable giving into social media platforms is not a new one. Facebook, which owns Instagram, has long offered a donation feature for non-profit organizations and has raised billions of dollars for various causes through the platform.

Other social media platforms, such as Twitter and TikTok, have also introduced similar features to support charitable causes. These features have proven to be successful, with millions of dollars being raised for various causes through social media fundraising efforts.

Overall, the introduction of a donate button feature on Instagram could provide a significant boost to fundraising efforts for charitable causes and non-profit organizations. With its massive user base and ease of use, this feature could make a real difference in the world of philanthropy and social activism.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

According To The Recent Survey U.S. Ad Market Struggles for Eighth Month in a Row

According to Standard Media Index's U.S. Ad Market Tracker, U.S. ad expenditure has declined for the eighth consecutive month as a result of difficult comparisons with a robust expansion a year earlier.

As per Mediapost, the U.S. advertising market has experienced a decline for eight months running. When compared to the same month last year, when advertising spending increased by 18.6%, February saw an 8% decline. The data reveals that despite the overall decline, the market is still up 9% from February 2021.

The decline seems to be roughly equal across all ad categories, with the top 10 categories showing a 9.2% decline and all other categories declining 6.1%. Moreover, digital media is increasing its market share; in February, it accounted for 59% of total ad spending, up from 55% in February 2022.

Despite these obstacles, marketers are still searching for novel ways to connect with their audience and make use of cutting-edge platforms and technologies, such as influencer marketing, to engage with them more deeply than they can through conventional advertisements.

Nevertheless, even though February's stats may not have been as good as some had hoped, there is still hope that trends will improve as marketers continue to test out new strategies and platforms for interacting with their consumers and generating results.

Marketers may stimulate growth even in a shaky economy by employing the appropriate ideas and approaches. The potential for future growth appears bright as long as businesses continue to spend in knowing their customers and utilizing emerging technologies.

As the global economy continues its development, businesses must keep up with constantly changing trends and technologies that are revolutionizing how consumers purchase products or services. An in-depth analysis of customer data is essential to leverage any marketing edge and stay ahead of the competition.

Read next: Ad Revenue Hits 5 Year Low, Here’s What That Means for the Industry
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Instagram’s head response to three of the most commonly asked questions, including concerns regarding reach and hashtags

The former executive of Facebook and the current head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, recently answered three of the most frequently asked questions about the Meta-owned platform.

Starting with the first question, asking how many hashtags should be used while uploading a post, in response, Adam clarified in an Instagram story that the use of hashtags does not mean that the post will get significantly more reach as compared to those with fewer or no hashtags. However, Adam did appreciate the practice of using hashtags only when the tags were used appropriately. When hashtags are relatable to the content, they can make a good impression. He further added that there is no need to use a large number of tags, as it won’t help the creator reach a larger audience and may even end up annoying the viewers.



Moving on to the second question: whether reach is lowered if a user posts twice in a single day. While responding to the question, Adam said that they get this question a lot from the users, who say that whenever they post twice in a single day, the content doesn’t reach the maximum audience, but Instagram has nothing to do with this. Adam believes that it’s the followers who get less interested in the second post, and the platform doesn’t do anything that will bring down the reach of the creator.



Lastly, the third question asked whether it is true that Instagram reels are down-ranked if a user takes help from third-party tools such as CapCut. Adam answered the question by saying that if a user uses third-party applications to create an Instagram reel and post it on the platform, it will not be down-ranked unless the reel is watermarked. If it contains any kind of logo, regardless of what the logo represents, the reel won’t be recommended much in areas such as Explore or recommendations on the viewer’s feed.

• Also read: 70% of Top News Publishers Got Fewer Visits in 2023

This is not the first time that Adam Mosseri has answered frequently asked questions; he previously responded to several questions to guide Instagram users on things they should or shouldn’t do while posting content on the platform.



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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Google Just Released Bard, How Does It Measure Up Against ChatGPT and Bing?

It seems like 2023 is going to shape up to be the year of the AI chatbot, with Google being the latest major corporation to throw its hat in the ring. The tech juggernaut just released its own AI chatbot by the name of Bard, and it will be interesting to see how its performance compares with the likes of ChatGPT and Bing with all things having been considered and taken into account.

The first major difference between the three chatbots is where they obtain their data and information from. For example, ChatGPT tends to have more of a focus on a dataset that is proprietary to OpenAI. What’s more, its dataset does not regularly get updated. Rather, it relies on a single source that extends only to 2021, although newer versions like ChatGPT 4 will be able to extract information from a much more updated dataset than might have been the case otherwise.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that both Bing and Bard are far less limited in that regard. They both source information from the current web, which means that any data you get from them will be far more up to date. This gives them a bit of an edge over ChatGPT, but this is by no means the only factor at play here.

After all, providing information is one thing, but making sure that that information is accurate is another entirely. Bing actually allows users to rate its answers based on creativity and accuracy, and that can impact the answers that you might get from the chatbot down the line.

An interesting way to test these chatbots out is to ask them of their opinions on each other. ChatGPT and Bing tend to avoid answering the question entirely, but the same can’t be said of Bard. Google Bard does not disparage either of its competitors, but it does appear to position itself as a much more accurate and precise source of information.

According to Bard, ChatGPT is useful if you need some help generating some form of creative content. As for Bing, Bard opined that Microsoft’s new chatbot is great for translating languages. However, it does seem to think that it is better than either of its competitors from an accuracy point of view.

Despite Bard’s assertions, neither it nor its competitors are actually as accurate as some might believe. These chatbots are capable of assessing a lot of information, but they are not quite as effective at parsing the information and providing it with the right kind of context. This is something that users should keep in mind, since it will take a good long while before these chatbots are able to start adding context to the answers they provide.

Such questions are important because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up determining which chatbot will end up winning out in the long run. With so many major companies pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into these products, the results of this race will be a huge part of the industry moving forward.

H/T: PCmag.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

MIT Says EVs Might Overburden the Electrical Grid Without These Changes

There are many who consider EVs to be the inevitable upgrade that cars have required for quite a long time. A proliferation of electrical vehicles can certainly be useful because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up reducing reliance on harmful fossil fuels. However, they come with their own set of problems, all of which would need to be managed before they can become commonplace.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that EVs might put too much of a strain on the electrical grid. If everyone is using an EV, it stands to reason that more electricity will be required than might have been the case otherwise. Not only would this lead to grid meltdowns and blackouts, it could also drive up electricity costs which would place further strain on the economy.

In spite of the fact that this is the case, researchers at MIT pointed out that there are some things that can be done to make this less of a problem in the long run. The main change that needs to be made is that demand needs to be spread out. If everyone is working a nine to five job, this would mean that the burden on the grid during the commuting hours would be far too great to sustain.

If everyone were to charge their cars up at the same time, this might create a peak of electricity usage that would deplete resources. Most users would put their cars on charge after work, but they won’t need to use them before the morning. Hence, charging times can be staggered through the use of an app. Users can plug their cars in to charge, but they would only actually be charging in the allotted timeframe.

Also, users should be encouraged to charge more during the day when electricity demand is usually at its lowest. This will spread the burden out considerably and help to keep the grid up and running without causing any type of damage.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World