May 11th, 2017

Facebook became the first social network ever to surpass 1 billion active users back in the third quarter of 2012. Now, the social media behemoth is nearing close to a third of the planet regularly logging in as results for the first quarter of 2017 came in. Facebook touts 1.94 billion monthly active users, 17% more than just a year earlier! 

According to Facebook, their mission since it's founding in 2004 is "to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected." Here are just some of the "milestones" they've hit since their founding:

2004 - Facebook launches thefacebook.com to US college students. 1 million active by the end of the year.

2005 - Facebook drops "the" to become just facebook.com and opens up high school and international schools, doubling their user base.

2006 - Facebook opens up their network to anybody and everybody - not just high school and college students. Active users jump to 58 million in 2007.

2008 - An iPhone app, chat function, and Spanish version of the platform all roll out. Users rise to 150 million.

2010 - The 'like' button is launched.

2011 - Facebook moves to its new home in Menlo Park, California.

2012 - Facebook went public with its initial public offering on May 18, 2012 with one of the largest and most anticipated IPOs in history. 

2014 - Facebook launches their trending function.

2015 - Facebook achieves over 1 billion monthly active users for the first time. (Watch their announcement video)

2017 - Facebook confirms it expects to pass 2 billion monthly users within the year.

 

As Facebook continues to grow, the opportunity for individuals and businesses to connect with more and more users increases. For businesses who are not active on social media, this data may begin to convince them of the benefits of jumping on the bandwagon.