Facebook now has 2 billion monthly users… and responsibility
Facebook now has 2 billion monthly users… and responsibility
“We’re getting to a size where it’s worth really taking a careful look at
what are all the things that we can do to make social media the most positive
force for good possible,” Facebook Chief Product Officer Chris Cox told
TechCrunch about the company’s new milestone. Thirteen years after launching
and less than five years after hitting 1 billion, Facebook now has 2 billion
monthly active users.
Two billion makes Facebook the largest social app in terms of logged-in
users, above YouTube’s 1.5 billion, WeChat’s 889 million, Twitter’s 328 million
and Snapchat’s estimated 255 million (extrapolated from its December 2015 ratio
when it had 110 million daily and 170 million monthly users). Beyond YouTube,
only Facebook’s other apps have more than 1 billion, including WhatsApp and
Facebook Messenger, with 1.2 billion each. Instagram might soon join that club
as it recently rocketed past 700 million.
Facebook’s growth the last half decade has been fueled by the developing
world. The company has relentlessly optimized its app for cheap Android
smartphones and low-bandwidth connections. It’s added 746 million users in Asia
and the Rest of World region since hitting 1 billion users total. Meanwhile, it
only added 41 million in the U.S. and Canada.
Despite Facebook’s size and age, at 17 percent its user count is growing
as fast or faster than any year since 2012. And people aren’t using it less
either. In fact, 66 percent of Facebook’s monthly users return each day now
compared to 55 percent when it hit 1 billion. If the teenaged social network
isn’t as cool to teenagers any more, it’s not showing in the big metrics.
But neither does the colossal impact Facebook has had on society, which
it’s now trying to bend toward positivity with its new mission statement to
“Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.”
“There’s definitely a deep sense of responsibility in every part of the
company,” Cox told TechCrunch. “We’re getting to the scale where we have to get
much better about understanding how the product has been used.” That’s why he’s
been traveling around the world doing user research. And it’s why Mark
Zuckerberg has been crisscrossing the country on a listening tour that many
people cynically assume is the start to a run for president, despite the CEO’s
denials.
Perhaps stewarding a 2-billion-person community is responsibility enough
to get out of Silicon Valley and figure out how Facebook impacts people’s lives.
There are the big, newsy things like suicides on Facebook Live and fears
that fake news got Donald Trump elected. But deeper down, there are even more
complex ramifications of a near ubiquitous social network. It can propel
internet addiction that alienates people, and facilitate the filter bubbles
that polarize society by reinforcing our opinions. Facebook has largely
conquered its competitors, giving it the slack to finally address the modern
sociological challenges that stem from its popularity.
Facebook now has 2 billion monthly users… and responsibility
“We’re getting to a size where it’s worth really taking a careful look at
what are all the things that we can do to make social media the most positive
force for good possible,” Facebook Chief Product Officer Chris Cox told
TechCrunch about the company’s new milestone. Thirteen years after launching
and less than five years after hitting 1 billion, Facebook now has 2 billion
monthly active users.
Two billion makes Facebook the largest social app in terms of logged-in
users, above YouTube’s 1.5 billion, WeChat’s 889 million, Twitter’s 328 million
and Snapchat’s estimated 255 million (extrapolated from its December 2015 ratio
when it had 110 million daily and 170 million monthly users). Beyond YouTube,
only Facebook’s other apps have more than 1 billion, including WhatsApp and
Facebook Messenger, with 1.2 billion each. Instagram might soon join that club
as it recently rocketed past 700 million.
Facebook’s growth the last half decade has been fueled by the developing
world. The company has relentlessly optimized its app for cheap Android
smartphones and low-bandwidth connections. It’s added 746 million users in Asia
and the Rest of World region since hitting 1 billion users total. Meanwhile, it
only added 41 million in the U.S. and Canada.
Despite Facebook’s size and age, at 17 percent its user count is growing
as fast or faster than any year since 2012. And people aren’t using it less
either. In fact, 66 percent of Facebook’s monthly users return each day now
compared to 55 percent when it hit 1 billion. If the teenaged social network
isn’t as cool to teenagers any more, it’s not showing in the big metrics.
But neither does the colossal impact Facebook has had on society, which
it’s now trying to bend toward positivity with its new mission statement to
“Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.”
“There’s definitely a deep sense of responsibility in every part of the
company,” Cox told TechCrunch. “We’re getting to the scale where we have to get
much better about understanding how the product has been used.” That’s why he’s
been traveling around the world doing user research. And it’s why Mark
Zuckerberg has been crisscrossing the country on a listening tour that many
people cynically assume is the start to a run for president, despite the CEO’s
denials.
Perhaps stewarding a 2-billion-person community is responsibility enough
to get out of Silicon Valley and figure out how Facebook impacts people’s lives.
There are the big, newsy things like suicides on Facebook Live and fears
that fake news got Donald Trump elected. But deeper down, there are even more
complex ramifications of a near ubiquitous social network. It can propel
internet addiction that alienates people, and facilitate the filter bubbles
that polarize society by reinforcing our opinions. Facebook has largely
conquered its competitors, giving it the slack to finally address the modern
sociological challenges that stem from its popularity.
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