South Africans may have seen remarkable features in WhatsApp messenger that it made it the most preferred messaging app to download compared to WeChat and Snapchat.

According to a Forbes article, a GlobalWeb Index report showed that South Africa led the list of top 10 countries that opted for WhatsApp over the other available messaging applications.

Following South Africa was Malaysia, India, Mexico, Spain, Singapore, Argentina, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

The article divulged that WhatsApp messenger is either the first or second app which South Africans download on their smartphones, like iPhones.

It was learned as well that Snapchat dominated Ireland while WeChat was number one in China.

Earlier this year, Lehlohonolo Mokenela, an ICT industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan, had this to say about the growing popularity of the app in the said country, "WhatsApp has already achieved ubiquitous status in South Africa as the instant messenger of choice, beating Blackberry Messenger and WeChat in terms of popularity."

His comment served as a reaction to the anticipated success of the voice calling feature of the app. It was even published in the report called "WhatsApp has Changed the South African Mobile Industry Overnight."

Forbes also noted that the country's alleged corruption scandal video did not make its presence greatly felt in YouTube since it was reportedly shared through WhatsApp messenger, a proof that South Africans generally prefer it over the other video sharing options.

In other news, Tech Crunch reported that its owner, Facebook, may start monetizing the app soon.

With the rise in WhatsApp messenger download, it is obvious that Facebook will surely rake in huge profits from it.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was quoted in a previous report saying that "there are many clear ways that we can monetize" especially when its users already reaches one billion.

Despite the absence of the detailed mechanism on how the company can make money out of the WhatsApp messenger download, the article shared that "Facebook wants to use its chat app to help brands and consumers connect and generally be the first point of contact with the internet."