On Monday, WhatsApp’s instant messaging rival, Telegram has added record-breaking 70 million new users during the several hours-long global outage faced by Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. In a post on the app, the founder and chief executive of Telegram Pavel Durov described the influx of the new users as “refugees from other platforms.”
Telegram Welcomes Over 70 Million Users from Other Platforms
“The daily growth rate of Telegram exceeded the norm by an order of magnitude, and we welcomed over 70 million users from other platforms in one day. I am proud of how our team handled the unprecedented growth because Telegram continued to work flawlessly for the vast majority of our users,” Durov wrote.
“I ask our existing users to say hi to their newly arrived friends, help them unpack, and let them know what we have in stock. Make sure they stick around and see why Telegram is light years ahead of the competition,” he said while continuing that “we won’t fail you when others will.”
Signal was Also Rewarded with an Influx of New Users During the Global Outage
Moreover, Telegram was not the only instant messaging platform that claimed they had an influx of new users during the global outage. Signal, which competes with both Telegram and WhatsApp, announced in a statement that it gained “millions” of new users.
Durov further said that some users in the Americas may have endured slower speeds as nearly 70 million users raced to sign up at the same time, but that the service ran as normal for the majority. EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager stated that the global outage showed the consequences of depending on just a few big players and emphasized the need for more opponents.
Read more:1.5 Billion Facebook Users’ Data Was Allegedly Put Up for Sale Amid Global Outage
Nearly 3.5 Billion Users were Affected by the Global Outage
Social Media giant, Facebook blamed the lengthy outage—which kept 3.5 billion users from accessing its services on WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger—on a defective configuration modification. As per the website monitor service Downdetector, the global outage lasted around six hours and affected users and businesses across the globe, in which nearly 70 million users approached Telegram for their communication.
The outage chaos knocked Facebook shares by almost 4.9 percent, clearing more than $40 billion off the value of the corporation. The latest episode occurred after Facebook was already under fire over a series of leaked documents that claim Facebook is aware its platforms spread hatred, violence, and misinformation while trying to hide the evidence.
Source: TechCrunch
