Facebook community now officially has 2 billion people, says Zuckerberg

Facebook said today its ranks of monthly active users had hit the two billion mark — meaning more than a quarter of the world's population is on the giant social network.

"As of this morning, the Facebook community is now officially 2 billion people!" co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a post on his Facebook page marking the milestone.

"We're making progress connecting the world, and now let's bring the world closer together," he wrote. "It's an honor to be on this journey with you."

Naomi Gleit, a vice-president at the internet giant, credited millions of small communities at Facebook for helping drive growth.

"There are two billion people connecting and building communities on Facebook every month," she said.

More than a billion people take part in "groups" at Facebook each month and more than 800 million people "like" something at the social network on an average day, she added.

Founded in 2004, the social media behemoth hit the billion-user mark five years ago.

As it has grown, Facebook has consistently updated features to fend off challengers such as Snapchat and adapt to trends such as the migration of news and streaming video online.

In the latest move to deepen its reach, Facebook revealed yesterday it is starting production on high-quality television series and gaming shows to be broadcast on its platform.
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