Facebook hits 500m – Zuckerberg introduces ‘Stories’

21 Jul 2010

Facebook today achieved its 500 millionth ‘friend’ and to mark the occasion CEO Mark Zuckerberg has introduced a new application called Facebook Stories, where users can share their own story and read hundreds of others.

“As of this morning, 500 million people all around the world are actively using Facebook to stay connected with their friends and the people around them,” Zuckerberg said in his blog.

“This is an important milestone for all of you who have helped spread Facebook around the world. Now a lot more people have the opportunity to stay connected with the people they care about,” Zuckerberg said.

The new application allows people to share their own story and read hundreds of others, categorised by themes and locations around the world.

“Our mission at Facebook is to help make the world more open and connected. Stories like these are examples of that mission and are both humbling and inspiring. I could have never imagined all of the ways people would use Facebook when we were getting started six years ago,” Zuckerberg said.

An estimated 1.59 million people in Ireland now access Facebook, about a third of the population. More than 700,000 Irish people are on the social-networking site every day.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com