Internet Computer Update Calls Measure State Changes, Not User Counts

Internet Computer’s update-call metric captures work that changes an application’s stored state; it does not show how many people use applications on the network.

Applications run as canisters. A state-changing request goes through consensus, while a query runs on a single replica and leaves stored state unchanged.

Daily network statistics track rates for both kinds of calls, along with message counts. These measures describe network workload. They do not, by themselves, establish user growth or greater economic demand for ICP.