Half a billion,- Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called it a nice number. It's the number of active Facebook users, at least on Wednesday morning. By now, the world's leading social-networking site has probably added thousands more to its community.
"This is an important milestone for all of you who have helped spread Facebook around the world," Zuckerberg said. "Now a lot more people have the opportunity to stay connected with the people they care about."
The Next 500 Million
So how long will it take to get to a billion? With Facebook translations beginning to catch on in many European countries where foreign languages are predominant, could Zuckerberg be announcing the billion-member mark in the next couple of years? Not necessarily, according to Brad Shimmin, an analyst at Current Analysis.
"As we've seen with MySpace and LinkedIn, the speed of adoption decreases and increases for social-networking sites. This is a fickle audience that they are playing to," Shimmin said. "Facebook is in danger, as any social-networking site would be, of losing its constituency because of one bad misstep or an accumulation of a of missteps."
And that's what worries Shimmin about Facebook. The social-networking behemoth has made a number of missteps over the past year that have drawn the ire of privacy advocates and consumers alike. Although Facebook seems to try to do the right thing, he noted, it's been a parade of errors.
"Google and Wikipedia have changed very little in their time and they haven't put themselves in a position to get in trouble with their users because of that," Shimmin said. "We always make fun of Google for throwing spaghetti at the wall and see it if sticks with their projects; when it comes to their crown jewel they don't change it that often. Facebook makes too many changes."
Facebook Stories
In celebration of the 500-million-member milestone, Facebook is making another change, or at least an addition. Facebook has put together a collection of stories members have shared about the impact Facebook has had on their lives. Zuckerberg then pulled out a global publicity stunt: Facebook Stories, which lets people share their story and read others. It's even categorized by themes and locations.
Zuckerberg pointed to a few examples, like Ben Saylor, a 17-year-old high-school student who used Facebook to organize a community effort to rebuild the Pioneer Playhouse, the oldest outdoor theater in Kentucky, after it was damaged by floods in May.
Zuckerberg also told the story of Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who, during his time in office, would go jogging with 100 of his fans from Facebook. Then he pointed to Holly Rose, who credits a friend's status message telling women to check for breast cancer with her being diagnosed in time to treat the disease. She used Facebook for support during treatment and became a prevention advocate herself.
"Our mission at Facebook is to help make the world more open and connected. Stories like these are examples of that mission and are both humbling and inspiring," Zuckerberg said. "I could have never imagined all of the ways people would use Facebook when we were getting started six years ago."
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