Facebook still has 1.55 billion users even without third-party apps users

Facebook reported Wednesday that it has 1.55 billion users, excluding the other accounts in app connected to it, silencing critics who accused it of inflating its monthly active users.

Tech Crunch reported that the giant social media platform reported a third quarter earnings with a revenue of $4.5 billion and $0.57 earnings per share, which is a whopping 11.3 percent increase from its $4.04 billion earnings report in the second quarter. Facebook's monthly user count spiked to 4.02 percent quarter-over-quarter from the 4.47 growth in the second quarter. This means the social media platform is still adding up multitudes from the developing world.

Before, those who use other apps that are connected to Facebook, are considered Facebook users and are included as monthly active users. That is no longer the case this quarter. In a report by the Tech Portal, Facebook's 10-Q's new definition of a monthly active user is "a registered Facebook user who logged in and visited Facebook through our website or a mobile device, or used our Messenger app (and is also a registered Facebook user), in the last 30 days as of the date of measurement."

Meanwhile, Re/Code reported that the 1.55 billion users that Facebook reported is based on its new MAU standards, which means that it added 60 million more users in the third quarter. Twitter, on the other hand, only added four million new users in the third quarter.

Tech Crunch reported that there are issues on the decline of engagement and content creation on Facebook, especially among its younger users. A GlobalWebIndex survey reveals that only 34 percent of users updated their status in the third quarter, while only 37 percent shared their photos. On a more positive note, Facebook still added four million more users from US and Canada, which is its core market. Its growth in these regions still multiplies despite already being there for 11 years.