Those champagne bottles are staying on ice at Facebook HQ.
The social network has been inching ever closer to the major milestone of a billion monthly active users (that is, folks who log into Facebook at least once a month). In April, as part of an amendment to its IPO filing with the SEC, the company announced it had 901 million monthly active users.
Some observers — and more than a few Facebook employees — had hoped this number would hit the magic billion by the time its second quarter results came out (ie. today). Others, such as Gregory Lyons, a senior analyst at iCrossing, predicted the billion mark would be reached in August. Now it’s looking more like those champagne corks will pop in September, or even October.
Nine hundred and fifty-five million users, of course, is still a superlative achievement. Facebook can also boast that 552 million of them log in every day — up from 526 million in April. The 955 million number also represents 29% growth in users year on year.
When Facebook first filed its IPO paperwork with the SEC in February, the network had 845 million users. It hit the 500 million mark back in mid 2010, hence the tag line for that year’s award-winning movie The Social Network: “you don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies.” The number was out of date by the time those posters hit billboards.
But of course, even 955 million users isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? A billion users. (Expect to see that joke roll out with increasing frequency over the next few months.)
How big can Facebook get? Let us know in the comments if you think the social network will ever hit two billion monthly active users. (Mashable.com)
