Facebook reaches 1 billion monthly active users
By Thane Burnett, QMI Agency


In this photo illustration, a Facebook logo on a computer screen is seen through glasses held by a woman in Bern in this photo taken May 19, 2012. (REUTERS/Thomas Hodel/Files)


Raise your hand if you want Mark Zuckerberg to fail.

Well haters — this just in: he's still more popular than you.

Zuckerberg's announcement Facebook has eclipsed 1 billion users monthly is not just a mind-bending milestone, but proof that, despite society's love-hate relationship with him and a stock in the dumps, his tech-baby is as universal as toasters and toothbrushes.

"Helping a billion people connect is amazing, humbling and by far the thing I am most proud of in my life," Zuckerberg wrote on his site.

Experts say while Wall Street remains concerned over the company's future, the here-and-now of Zuckerberg's accomplishment is impressive.

"It reminds me of that phrase -- the digital day," says Sidneyeve Matrix, a Queen's University media studies professor, specializing in digital culture and technology. "The most powerful technologies are those that disappear (into our daily routines.)"

The face of Facebook is morphing, adds Matrix — who understands you're pointing at her last name.


Click to open in new window

Facebook started as a way to connect friends and find sex. Then it gave us crazy groups and bizarre campaigns.

After Pluto was declared a dwarf planet in 2006, one of the most popular Facebook groups became 'When I was your age, Pluto was a planet.'

Another one is dedicated to the cool side of pillows.

And earlier this year, Charlie, a 500-lb. pig in Los Angeles, was saved through a Facebook campaign.

As Zuckerberg struggles to address demands of mobile devices, Matrix says the service has shifted from community to 'f-commerce' — buying and selling through Facebook.

The 1-billion mark adds muscle to that.

Though there may yet be reason to talk smack about Zuckerberg.

Ron Rule, a vice president of e-commerce at Florida-based Infusion Brands which advises companies on web-marketing, is skeptical.

"I have a hard time believing the 1 billion figure," he said. "There are millions of fake accounts that appear to be active users because they're regularly used to 'like' a variety of pages that paid them to do so.

"If I wanted 1,000 or 10,000 or 100,000 Facebook likes to a page, I could pay someone and have them in a week, but they aren't real people."

You can bring this up on the more than 20 Facebook pages and groups dedicated to hating Mark Zuckerberg.

Though a personal page for his dog still has more 'likes' than any of them. So again, Zuckerberg wins.

More Tech News









Latest blog posts

Greg Gazin

Don’t hold your iPad, iKlip it!

iPads have found their way into many homes, offices and coffee shops, but we’re also seeing them being used on stage and in the studio.... Read More

Adam Swimmer

Sony teases PS4 in new trailer

After a fake teaser made the rounds last week for the PlayStation 4,  Sony has finally released a real teaser for its next-generation... Read More