Facebook reaches 1 billion users

Oct 9, 2012 | Biz/Tech

Facebook reached one billion users on Sept. 14, Mark Zuckerberg made the official announcement on Oct. 4 2012. COURTESY WIKI MEDIA COMMONS

By Kristin Andrews

“Helping a billion people connect is amazing, humbling and by far the thing I am most proud of in my life.” – Mark Zuckerberg

If you’re a member of the Facebook community, you’re one in a billion.

The social networking monolith hit a milestone on Oct. 4 when founder Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook reached 1 billion users a month.

The company has already created a page called “One billion means…” where users, including musicians, athletes and a variety of politicians from around the world, share what it means to them to connect to people from around the world.

“Facebook has been deemed the site that has helped to reduce our planet from six degrees of separation to four,” Joanne Burgess, social media specialist told Humber News Tuesday.

Burgess is the owner of Virtually Yours, a service in Toronto which helps small business owners connect with potential clients using social media.

“Facebook is a good vehicle to use for their business because of the number of people on Facebook and because people on Facebook love to look at pictures and video,” said Burgess.

Although Facebook may help independent business owners, Facebook itself has experienced a downward cycle since going public in May.

A New York Times article last Thursday reported Facebook went into the market at $38 a share but dropped to $21.95 as of Oct. 4, the day Zuckerberg announced its 1 billion users.

The report said the top five countries using Facebook include Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico and the United states.

Of course, not all users are people. Some pages have been created for animals, causes and groups.

Facebook user Lesley Boileau created a page for her rabbit, Pontouff Pony after writing a blog about him for years.

“Pontouff  has 67 friends,” Boileau who lives in Cobourg, Ont. told Humber News. “He’s got a couple other rabbits, dogs and some cats who have befriended him as well.”