How many internet websites can say they have 1 billion users a day? Facebook can!
Mark Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook in 2004 while he was student at Harvard, said last Monday that 1 billion users logged into Facebook to connect with friends and family. That means one in seven people on earth actually logged in to the site; however, more than 83 percent of the people that logged into Facebook on Monday came from outside of the United States and Canada . Did you log into Facebook on Monday?
This is a new record for any one website since social networking was created. This is humbling reminder of how large Facebook really is and how much it really knows about each one of us.
“Facebook has nearly 1.5 billion users who log in at least once a month, but this was the most in a single day,” said Zuckerberg.
Three years ago, in 2012, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook had a billion users using the site at least once a month and now, they’ve hit the billion-users-a-day milestone.
“I’m so proud of our community for the progress we’ve made,” wrote Zuckerberg. “Our community stands for giving every person a voice, for promoting understanding and for including everyone in the opportunities of our modern world. A more open and connected world is a better world. It brings stronger relationships with those you love, a stronger economy with more opportunities, and a stronger society that reflects all of our values.”
Facebook has exploded in popularity since 2004. It currently has 10,955 employees and has offices in Kuala Lumpur, Sao Paulo, Singapore, and Brasilia. According to its website, it has 1.49 billion monthly active users.
Facebook is not just for the young people. Even the elderly are getting excited about using it to stay in touch with friends and family.
Eleven years after creating Facebook, Forbes ranked Zuckerberg as the 10th richest person in the world and said he’s worth a whopping 39.4 billion.
What’s next for Facebook?
Facebook has just started testing a new digital personal assistant that they are calling “M.” It will allow users to ask for help with tasks using the mobile Messenger app.
“M is part of an ambitious long-term effort within the Messenger team to build AI that can accurately determine the intent of a request and efficiently complete tasks,” a Facebook spokesperson stated. “More and more of M’s work will become automated over time as the system learns. This will help us expand the service, make it faster and scale to more people.”
“Thank you for being part of our community and for everything you’ve done to help us reach this milestone,” wrote Zuckerberg. “I’m looking forward to seeing what we accomplish together.”
[Image from Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]