500 million like Facebook

Facebook gained its 500 millionth member this week – only six years after its inception. With a membership contingent greater than the population of the United States, Facebook has quickly grown to be one of the most – if not the most – powerful social networking website in the world.

• Facebook surpassed Google as the most visited website in the world in 2010.
• 100 million new users joined the site in the past six months alone.
• The fastest-growing demographic of users is women older than 55.
• The average user spends 55 minutes per day and views 661.8 pages each month.
• More than 25 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) are shared each month.
(Sources: Facebook, Inside Facebook, and Business Insider)

Even Hollywood is paying attention. This fall, Columbia Pictures will release The Social Network, a movie about the creation of Facebook, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg will make an appearance on The Simpsons.

Facebook’s success has come with a price recently. The social networking giant has been criticized by everyone from users to U.S. Senators for its changes to its privacy settings. Facebook is even being sued by a man who claims to own 84% of the company.

But Facebook’s popularity seems solid, especially if users continue to spend more than 500 billion minutes per month on the site.

For more information, watch Diane Sawyer’s interview with Zuckerberg.