Facebook and mobile apps on smartphone and tablets have accelerated to rise to a new industry named “app economy,” says researchers at the University of Maryland.
In a new study put together by professors at the university’s Smith School of Business, the University says, the app industry is one of the parts of the of the general economy that is witnessing a rapid growth.
The study named “The Facebook App Economy,” has confirmed that more than 182,000 new jobs have been created by businesses in the U.S. making apps particularly for Facebook, the celebrated social networking site with 750 million active users.
Il-Horn Hann, co-director of the University of Maryland’s Center for Digital Innovation, Technology and Strategy and an information systems professor, said in a statement,
“Our findings confirm that social media platforms have created a thriving new industry.”
“As Facebook and other platforms grow, we will continue to see job growth and the ripple effects of these advances in the U.S. economy,” added Mr Hann.
The study also revealed, “using more aggressive estimates, the Facebook App Economy created 235,644 jobs, adding a value of $15.71 billion dollars to the U.S. economy.”
The app economy also shows “businesses that supply app developers” have themselves added “between 129,000 to more than 182,000 people” to “jobs supported by the app economy.”
“The jobs created in the app economy stimulate the creation of additional jobs in other sectors of the US economy,” the study said.
“First, jobs are created at businesses that supply app developers.”
“Second, jobs are created as a result of household spending based on the income earned by employees at both app developers and businesses supplying app developers,” concludes the study.