Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), the world’s largest social networking giant, turned 9th today, with over 1 billion users on board to date.
The popular social networking site that sold its 1.6 % stake to Microsoft in 2007, was founded by Mark Zuckerberg and his four friends Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum and Chris Hughes, during their sophomore years at Harvard University in 2004.
Initially, the membership of the website was exclusive and limited by the founders to Harvard students only. The membership was, however, expanded to other colleges in Boston, after its rapid popularity among the local students.
What was initially formed as a local college network, and later renamed from ‘Facemash’ to ‘Facebook’, became a huge success within months, and soon took the form of the most popular public social networking site in just few years.
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) claimed that its monthly active users (MAUs) during fourth quarter 2012 were 1.06 billion, registering an increase of 25% year-over-year. The daily active users of the social networking giant were 618 million on average for December 2012 an increase by 28%, while mobile MAUs were 680 million.
The average Facebook user spends more 700 minutes per month on the site, has 130 friends and creates 90 pieces of content each month.
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) recently announced the release of a new feature called Graph Search, which utilizes user content to analyze their social preferences and compiles graphical results. Other features that the company rolled out include Facebook Cards and voice calling on iPhone in North America.
Despite new developments and tremendous growth experienced by the social networking guru, the website has been mired in come controversies over user privacy concerns.
US, Brazil, India, Indonesia and Mexico are the countries with the most citizens on Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB).
