From operating on a few college campuses to having 1 billion people visit it in one day, Facebook has reached a whole new milestone that no other social media app can compare to.
On August 27, 2015, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the new milestone on his Facebook account.
“On Monday, one in seven people on Earth used Facebook to connect with their friends and family,” Zuckerberg said. “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.”
As stated by Buzzfeed’s senior technology reporter Alex Kantrowitz, “While this moment will certainly turn into a victory lap for the company — and the feat is indeed massive and impressive — it’s also a good reminder for the rest of us of Facebook’s immense power.”
Facebook started when Zuckerberg and his friends created a hot or not list of his fellow college peers and sent it around the campus. Soon, this list became the Facebook everyone knows today. From liking pages to creating your own groups and expanding them, Facebook has taken over the world.
It’s not just Facebook who has this massive power. All social media networks have this as well.
“Social media brings things out at a quicker pace,” said Ken Knelly, executive director of the marketing and communications department on Plattsburgh State campus.
Knelly explains that on PSUC’s official Facebook page there is more than 27 thousand likes on the page.
“When we put something out there, the followers see it and then they are able to share it with their friends,” Knelly said. “The more shares it gets, the engagement gets higher.”
Knelly said that Facebook lets him and, the rest of PSUC officials, reach a whole other group of people because of the sharing that happens. Here on campus, mostly all the clubs, departments and organizations have their own Facebook page where people can come and visit them to see what they offer.
Knelly said Facebook remains a very important channel. He said there is no indication that this site is going anywhere anytime soon.
“Facebook is one of the only platforms that lets prospective students, current students and alumni all converse in one place.”
Karolina Brodka, a senior majoring in PR at PSUC, said Facebook makes it easier when wanting to spread the word about something. For example, sharing a blog post takes just a click of a button.
“Facebook has features now that allow you to call or video chat with others using Wi-Fi, which is also convenient because you can talk to people all over the world easily and for free.”
Over the years, Facebook has been used by people to talk to their friends, or other students in their classes. Social media has grown over the years, so quickly, that face-to-face communication has become a less used way to communicate with other people.
“You can go on Facebook and see what everyone is doing even the people who you’re not close friends with. Social media can be very good and helpful but also terrible depending on how you use it,” Brodka said.
But this tiny flaw doesn’t matter compared to all the good things Facebook and other social media sites bring to the table.
According to Facebook’s Newsroom, there are over 1.4 billion monthly active Facebook users and this number continues to grow. Over 968 million people are daily active users as of this past June. Of those 968 million, 844 million users are on the mobile app daily. Only 16.9 percent of users are inside the US and Canada, while 83.1 percent is from the rest of the world.
These numbers show everyone that Facebook is continuing to grow all over the world and it is impossible to ignore.
From Facebook’s Newsroom it states, “The phrase “this journey is 1% finished” is posted on our walls, reminding us that we’ve only begun to fulfill our mission to make the world more open and connected.”
At the end of the post Zuckerberg posted, he thanks everyone for being apart of the Facebook community and for everything everyone has done to reach this important milestone.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what we accomplish together.”
Email Samantha Stahl at samantha.stahl@cardinalpointsonline.com
