New Year’s Eve 2020 went differently than usual in many countries around the world due to corona: No big parties and fireworks, but many small celebrations in the cozy home. But despite the pandemic, people did not have to do without the warm greetings for the New Year to family and friends: With apps like Whatsapp or Facebook Messenger, many people around the world saw their loved ones thanks to video chat – or could at least speak to them by phone . Over 1.4 billion calls and video chats were made via Whatsapp on New Year’s Eve, as from Facebook published figures emerges.
Facebook: Significantly more live broadcasts and group video calls
This is a new record – there have never been so many calls and video chats in a single day in the world. And this number is also impressive for New Year’s Eve: The value is 50 percent higher than last year. The statistics for Instagram and Facebook also show how important it was for people to see their family and friends at the turn of the year. In total, there were 55 million live transmissions from users across the two platforms. And Facebook Messenger was also used for video chats: According to Facebook, there were on average almost twice as many video calls in groups – i.e. more than two people – than on any other day.
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