{"id":19129,"date":"2014-02-20T14:28:29","date_gmt":"2014-02-20T19:28:29","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:44:32","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:44:32","slug":"behind-facebooks-whatsapp-purchase-a-global-appetite-for-texting","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2014\/02\/20\/behind-facebooks-whatsapp-purchase-a-global-appetite-for-texting\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind Facebook\u2019s WhatsApp purchase: A global appetite for texting"},"content":{"rendered":"

When news broke this week<\/a> that Facebook was going to pay $19 billion to buy a text-messaging company called WhatsApp<\/a> that has about 450 million users around the world, many in the U.S.\u00a0 asked themselves \u201cWhat\u2019s That<\/i>?\u201d And, why was it worth so much money to a mega social media company like Facebook with 1.2 billion active monthly users?<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

The fact that WhatsApp is better known outside of the U.S. was likely one of the big reasons<\/a> for Facebook\u2019s move. A median of 78% of mobile phone owners used their devices to send texts, according to a Pew Research Center survey<\/a> conducted last spring in 24 emerging and developing nations. (One caveat is that while more than half of the people in each of the countries surveyed own a cell phone, ownership of app-capable smartphones pales by comparison<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n

Facebook is still the dominant social networking site, but its user growth in the U.S. has slowed<\/a>.\u00a0 In listing reasons why WhatsApp is potentially worth so much to Facebook, Forbes noted that Facebook has had difficulty getting traction<\/a> in developing countries, especially in Latin American, India and Asia.<\/p>\n\n

In our spring survey of emerging nations, at least seven-in-ten cell phone owners said they use mobile devices to text in six of seven Latin American countries surveyed. And eight-in-ten or more cell phone owners said they texted in four of five Asian countries surveyed.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A median of 78% of mobile phone owners in emerging countries used their devices for 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