Facebook has grown from a student project to a billion dollar company that defines trends and represents a good portion of all Internet traffic in just a little over ten years. BGR points out that in 2012 the site was seeing 1 billion users each month. Just three years later, 1 billion came in one day.
Zuckerberg wrote yesterday: “We just passed an important milestone. For the first time ever, one billion people used Facebook in a single day.” He continued: “When we talk about our financials, we use average numbers, but this is different. This was the first time we reached this milestone, and it’s just the beginning of connecting the whole world.”
Facebook’s ways of connecting the whole world include providing free mobile Internet access to developing countries and ensuring that as many people as possible can access its services, even if they do not own a smartphone. The company still maintains the Java-based “Facebook for Every Phone” app that can be installed on feature phones, a much cheaper and more accessible option than a smartphone for many people.
On Monday, one in seven people on the planet used Facebook. They may have posted a status update, commented on a friend’s post, liked a news article or planned a birthday party. Maybe they played a game or watched a video. Some probably just chatted with a friend on Messenger.
The possibilities are a key component of how the figure was achieved. Facebook now provides so many services that eventually most Internet users are likely to end up creating an account. Many third-party apps and games rely on Facebook user accounts and synchronise data to the cloud via Facebook’s servers. This is key to the company’s strategy and an important component of its new digital assistant, M.
Unveiled yesterday and integrated directly into Messenger, M aims to be the one-stop place to perform any task you could want to do on a mobile. By creating a powerful and quick destination, capable of doing things that may otherwise require the use of several different services, Facebook can attract even more users – something that Zuckerberg is evidently keen to do.
Monday’s achievement remains important and notable though. For the first time, one billion people connected with each other via facebook.com, creating a huge network of interlinked personalities online. Zuckerberg ended his post by saying: “Thank you for being part of our community and for everything you’ve done to help us reach this milestone. I’m looking forward to seeing what we accomplish together.”
