Lockdowns across the world are driving people to the Facebook family of services, which saw a “record number of people” using them. 3 billion people are logging on its central app, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger every month. This represents roughly 2/3rd of the world's online population. Messaging volumes have increased by over 50% in places hit hardest by the pandemic, voice and video calling have doubled across Messenger and WhatsApp, WhatsApp and Messenger have over 700 million daily active users making calls. 800 million people are engaging with livestreams daily. To this end, Facebook has introduced Messenger Rooms and increased the people-limit on WhatsApp calls to 8. Aiming for increasing online commerce, Jio deal is part of it Facebook is leveraging the surge in usage of its platforms to onboard small and medium businesses and build online commerce on its platforms for the masses. This is a long-term plan: expected to benefit in the future, while increasing usage and showing effectiveness during a crisis. The Jio deal, and the JioMart-WhatsApp integration, is a classic case-in-point. To summarise Zuckerberg's comments: Small and medium businesses are less likely to have an online presence, in the form of a website or application. Facebook or Instagram pages are free and take moments to create. Facebook can increase usage and value by integrating orders, payments, and communication — such as delivery using WhatsApp and Messenger. The strategy is straightforward: get people and small businesses onto the family platforms; help businesses talk to customers and increasingly do businesses…
