On his blog today, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook has reached the 500 million user mark. He said,”500 million people all around the world are actively using Facebook to stay connected with their friends and the people around them. This is an important milestone for all of you who have helped spread Facebook around the world. Now a lot more people have the opportunity to stay connected with the people they care about.”

This is a staggering achievement considering that Facebook had about 1 million users at the start of 2005 and that Facebook’s popularity has spread mostly via word of mouth. In the face of protests over interface changes, worldwide controversy over privacy and threats of a boycott from thousands of users in May this year, Facebook still added 100 million new users in the last 6 months alone.

One Billion Facebook Users, ‘Guaranteed’

Mr Zuckerberg recently said that the site was “almost guaranteed” to reach one billion users. And while Facebook grows without pause, Facebook’s social media rivals shrink to the sidelines. MySpace has about 65 million users, which only appears insignificant when compared to Facebook. Another rival of days gone by, Bebo, was sold earlier this year by AOL just 2 years after it was bought for $850 million.

With 500 Million active Facebook users around the globe and with Facebook’s founder as much as ‘guaranteeing’ an additional 500 million active users in the not to distant future, is ignoring this fabulous free resource something that any business, big or small, local, national or international can ignore any longer.

Social Media Support for Businesses in the Stafford Area

Rake Mark Web Solutions is a Stafford based website design and online marketing company helping local businesses make the most of Facebook and Twitter and they could help you tap into this amazing resource. Call Sarah on 01785 256 222 for further details.