盡管遭遇了一系列尷尬的丑聞以及用戶倒戈的運動，但Facebook在全球的人氣卻達到了前所未有的高峰。

Facebook于1月底表示，其去年第四季度的日活躍用戶數達到15.2億，同比上漲9%。

這一新聞發布于公司受到連續兩天負面報道之后。利用一個不通過蘋果（Apple）App商店給iOS用戶安插的應用，Facebook追蹤了部分用戶的手機和網絡活動，此舉引發了猛烈抨擊。作為回應，蘋果取消了Facebook的開發者證書，致使Facebook員工無法繼續通過存在爭議的應用收集數據，也不能利用內部應用來測試更新和新功能了。

在遭遇這場最新的尷尬之前，Facebook還有一系列處理用戶數據不當、傳播虛假新聞等過失，導致批評者掀起了“刪除Facebook”（#DeleteFacebook）的運動。

盡管如此，Facebook用戶的忠誠卻一如既往。

Facebook的首席財務官戴夫·韋納在1月底的第四季度收益電話會議上表示：“讓數據說話，我們在所有地區都有增長。”

增長主要源于Facebook在印度、印度尼西亞和菲律賓的擴張，公司在這些地區新增了1,600萬用戶。美國和加拿大的日活躍用戶數在連續持平三個季度后，第四季度也有100萬的增長。

財報發布后，eMarketer的分析師戴博拉·阿霍·威廉姆森在照會中寫道：“Facebook用這些數據清楚地證明了2018年的挑戰并未對公司提高……使用率的能力產生長久影響。”

這可能是Facebook最后幾次公布其核心業務的數據了。公司計劃逐步取消“僅含社區”的統計方式，轉而公布旗下所有應用——Instagram、WhatsApp和Messenger的整體數據。

Facebook第四季度的業績震驚了市場。公司輕松超過了分析師預測的收入164億美元和每股利潤2.19美元，最終實現了169億美元收入和2.38美元每股利潤。

Facebook的業績也讓公司的股價在盤后交易中猛漲11%至167.65美元，而日常交易的收盤價為150.42美元。

首席執行官馬克·扎克伯格在收益電話會議上還宣布了推出新功能的計劃。扎克伯格表示，公司2018年在安全和保障上投入了大量資金，他們在2019年將繼續開發一系列新功能，包括消息平臺加密、在線購物、消息過期、為視頻流媒體服務Watch的觀看者提供新的好友互動方式等。（財富中文網）

譯者：嚴匡正

Despite a series of embarrassing scandals and calls for users to defect, Facebook is more popular than ever worldwide.

Facebook said in the end of January that it had 1.52 billion daily active users in the fourth quarter, up 9% from the same period last year.

The news comes after two days of bad press for the company, which was slammed for tracking the phone and web activity of some users through an app that it distributed to iOS users without going through Apple’s App store. Apple responded to the news by revoking Facebook’s developer certificate, which essentially blocks Facebook employees from continuing to collect data from the controversial app as well as use the internal app for testing updates and new features.

The latest embarrassment followed a series of other missteps related to mishandling user data and the spread of fake news that prompted critics to create of the #DeleteFacebook movement.

But despite all of it, Facebook users remained loyal.

“Let the numbers stand for themselves,” Dave Wehner, Facebook’s chief financial officer, said during the fourth-quarter earnings call in the end of January. “We’re growing in all regions.”

The growth was attributed mostly to expansion in India, Indonesia, and the Philippines, where 16 million users were added. Daily active user numbers in the U.S. and Canada grew 1 million after remaining flat over the previous three quarters.

“With these results, Facebook has clearly demonstrated that the challenges of 2018 have not had a lasting impact on its ability to increase … usage,” Debra Aho Williamson, an analyst with eMarketer, wrote in a note following the earnings report.

This may be one of the last times Facebook breaks out numbers for its core service. The company plans to phase out “community-only” metrics and instead report the combined results of its family of apps—Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.

Facebook’s fourth quarter results shocked the market by easily beating analyst predictions of $16.4 billion in revenue and $2.19 per share in profits. The company instead reported $16.9 billion in revenue and a $2.38 per share profit.

The results sent Facebook’s stock soaring more than 11% in after-hour trading to $167.65 from a closing price in regular trading of $150.42.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg also announced plans for new features during the earnings call. The company, which Zuckerberg said spent much of 2018 investing in safety and security measures, will spend 2019 working to develop new features including encryption across messaging platforms, online shopping, the ability for messages to expire, and letting viewer of Watch, the company’s video streaming service, interact with their friends in new ways.