Technology News – There is a good chance that you were a part of this statistic.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to (what else?) Facebook on Thursday to announce a momentous record for the social network: 1 billion users in one day.
“This was the first time we reached this milestone, and it’s just the beginning of connecting the whole world,” Zuckerberg wrote in a post. “Our community stands for giving every person a voice, for promoting understanding and for including everyone in the opportunities of our modern world.”
The 1 billion number includes anyone who logged into a Facebook service or sent a message on Messenger, so it’s not like 1 out of 7 people in the world spent the whole day scrolling through their News Feed — but it’s still a really big number.
It seems even bigger when you consider that more than half the world lives without an Internet connection, according to Facebook’s own estimate — so the people on Earth who could access Facebook and did is more like 1 in 3. Don’t worry, though, Facebook is working hard to get everyone else online via Internet.org, so they can use Facebook too. Data-efficient mobile apps for areas with limited connectivity also help get isolated or marginalized populations on the social network.
These stats may creep some out — Facebook is also the world’s biggest ad platform, of course — and they may delight others. But it’s hard not to be impressed either way.
by DEVIN COLDEWEY, NBCNews.com
