
WeChat, an instant messaging platform similar to WhatsApp, benefited from its unique access to China’s notoriously closed internet market of 500 million users in 2012. WeChat and Instagram round out the top-five, also with interesting advantages. Like Threads, TikTok benefited from another app, accessing popular lip syncing app Musical.ly’s existing user base after it was acquired and folded into TikTok. ChatGPT introduced the incredible capabilities of large language models to the masses, prompting a rush of sign-ups, and reviving old conversations around the potential consequences of AI.Ĭoming in at third place, ByteDance’s TikTok took just 9 months to reach 100 million users after its launch in 2017. Ranked second, Open AI’s ChatGPT launched in November 2022 and hit 100 million users by the start of the new year. Here’s the journey length of popular platforms to attaining 100 million users: Rank Secondly, new users on Threads need an Instagram account to register, thus eliminating sign-up barriers and leveraging Instagram’s 1.2 billion-strong user base. In first place, Threads has a significant lead over the rest of the pack with its five day achievement, and may have built a significant moat in holding on to this record.įirstly, its launch coincided with Twitter’s viewing limit decision, and rode the wave of dissatisfaction aimed at Twitter’s current owner, Elon Musk.

Ranking Every Apps Journey to 100 Million Users It achieved this milestone through organic demand-and no paid promotions required-smashing all previous records.īut how long have other popular platforms-TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube to name a few-taken to build their user base? Pulling data from PwC and Yahoo, we rank how long it took popular platforms to get to 100 million users. Of Twitter’s many new rivals, Meta’s newest social media platform Threads has established its presence with a bang.Īccording to Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Threads took only 5 days to reach the key threshold of 100 million users. How Long it Took for Popular Apps to Reach 100 Million Users
Submarine cable map 2017 pdf driver#
Cloud computing is the big demand driver of this new private cable boom.Īs more millions more people around the world adopt cloud computing, we’ll be certain to see even more cables criss-crossing the world’s oceans in the near future. Content providers such as Google and Microsoft are increasingly major investors in new cable. Traditionally, private companies or consortiums formed by telecom carriers owned cables, but that model is changing. Remote Pacific islands, and even obscure ocean towns in the Arctic Circle have such connections. The network is clustered around information economy hotspots like Singapore and New York, but cables connect to just about anywhere. Today, there are over 420 submarine cables in service, stretching over 700,000 miles (1.1 million km) around the world. (One common misconception is that most of our information is transmitted through satellites, but fiber optic cables actually form the backbone of the internet, transmitting about 99% of all data.) The level of speed has only increased with time – and now cables can transmit 160 terabits per second. The first transatlantic telephone cables went into service in 1956, and 32 years later, the first fiber optic cable connected Europe and America.įiber optic technology made transmitting massive quantities of information fast and cost-effective. By the year 1900, there were already over 130,000 miles (200,000 km) of cable running along the ocean floor! Beyond the Telegram “Instant” communication was a huge commercial hit, and it prompted a cable laying boom. Though communication was expensive and limited to only a few words per hour at best, the speed of communication was unparalleled at the time. The first transcontinental cable – laid in 1858 – ran from Ireland to Newfoundland, and made telegraph communication possible between England and Canada.

The map above, by Ben Pollock, is a comprehensive look at the world’s cable network, as well as some of the impressive information on bandwidth and maintenance jurisdictions. But while they lack the flashiness of satellites, it’s actually the world’s vast network of fiber optic cables that does most of the heavy lifting in keeping our information flowing from place to place.

Submarine cable map 2017 pdf full#
View the above visualization at full resolution for the best experience. Map: The World’s Network of Submarine Cables
