Facebook reaches 1 billion active users worldwide

USPA News - The social networking website Facebook has now more than one billion active users each month, or nearly 15 percent of the world`s population, founder and chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg announced in a status update on Thursday morning. "This morning, there are more than one billion people using Facebook actively each month," Zuckerberg said through his Facebook page.

"If you`re reading this: thank you for giving me and my little team the honor of serving you. Helping a billion people connect is amazing, humbling and by far the thing I am most proud of in my life." According to a fact sheet provided by the company, Facebook reached the milestone at 12:45 p.m. Pacific time on September 14. The website launched less than a decade ago in February 2004 and reached 50 million users in October 2007, 100 million users in August 2008, and 500 million users in July 2010. It shows the number of people using Facebook has doubled over the past two years, meaning the site now reaches nearly 15 percent of the world`s population. To compare, the social networking website Twitter has 500 million active users and the Chinese equivalent Sina Weibo has more than 300 million registered users. "I am committed to working every day to make Facebook better for you, and hopefully together one day we will be able to connect the rest of the world too," Zuckerberg added in his status update. "Celebrating a billion people is very special to me. It`s a moment to honor the people we serve." According to the fact sheet, the median age of the Facebook user is about 22 and the top five countries where people connect from are Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico and the United States. More than half of all Facebook users, some 600 million people, also access their profile through their mobile phones.