Who Uses Facebook?

Originally a network for select college students, Facebook first expanded into high schools, then larger networks, collecting students and colleagues across the country and, eventually, the world. Now you can not only identify your romantic partner and growing circle of friends, but also your parents and

siblings. Your mom is on Facebook. Your sister is, and your daughter as well. Your college roommate,

your first crush, and the former best friend you haven’t spoken to in years. Your grandparents may even

be tagging you in family photos you forgot existed. Seventy percent of Facebook users live outside

the United States. The fastest growing segment of users? Women 55 to 65 years old. Depending on

how you measure it, Facebook either has already surpassed Google in traffic levels or is about to. The

Facebook Application platform alone has been used by over one million developers to build more than

500,000 active applications.

Try to pinpoint the “average” user, and you’ll find most users are anything but average. Typically, a

Facebook user has 130 friends, is connected to 80 Pages, Groups, and Events, and has created 90

pieces of content. Where else could you find someone who talks to over 100 people a day? And that’s

not even accounting for “super users” or influencers who often have thousands of friends.