Facebook: Zuckerberg reveals how long 1.65 billion users spend on its apps every day

As Apple struggles to keep its investors happy, Facebook has smashed Wall Street estimates for its performance in the three months up to 31 March. The social network turned in a scorecard, with revenue up 57% on the same period last year, and net income up by over $1bn (£685m, €880m).

But one statistic stood out even more than the billions of dollars profit and billions of daily users. Facebook chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, revealed that on average, Facebook users spend 50 minutes every single day on the company's Facebook, Messenger and Instagram applications.

In an earnings call to investors, Zuckerberg said: "Today, people around the world spend on average more than 50 minutes a day using Facebook, Instagram and Messenger...and that doesn't count WhatsApp." Facebook also said its Messenger app now has 900 million monthly active users and Instagram, which it owns, has 400 million.

The social network announced a first quarter profit of $1.51bn on revenues of $5.4bn, up massively from the $512m profit it made on $3.3bn revenue in the same three months last year.

This quarter's revenue came in at 10% above Wall Street estimates. Investors were happy, as Facebook's share price surged over 9% in after-hours trading on 27 April.

Zuckerberg's company also wowed when it came to total users. The number of people who use the social network at least once a month (its monthly active users, or MAUs) grew to 1.65 billion, 15% up on this time last year. Users who logged on through one of Facebook's mobile applications at least once a month during the quarter grew 21% to 1.51 billion.

The network's stonking results came in the same week that saw Apple report its first drop in quarterly revenue in 13 years, and the first ever drop in iPhone sales since they launched nine years ago. The performance turned in by Twitter wasn't much better, with the service adding just five million users and taking its monthly total to 310 million. Revenue of $594.5m (£407m, €523m) missed analyst expectations and Twitter's share price tumbled almost 14% as a result.

How long do you spend on Facebook, Messenger and Instagram every day? Click on the poll below to let us know.