Facebook hits 500 million users despite privacy criticism?

by Stevie Smith - Jun 4 2010, 04:26

Despite being increasingly hit with outside criticism regarding its contentious privacy policies and the sharing of user information, social networking beast Facebook would appear to be bulletproof in the eyes of its users.

More pointedly, indications put forth by the San Francisco Chronicle suggest the hugely popular online service’s user base continues to swell regardless of focused negative attention – and may even have broken through the 500 million barrier. 

Speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s eighth annual D: All Things Digital conference (D:8), Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is quoted as saying that the Facebook team has risen from “building a service in a dorm room to running a service that 500 million people use.”

Supporting the notion that Facebook’s popularity has pushed it considerably higher than the 400 million users the service officially lays claim to, the report also points to – somewhat tenuous – supporting evidence.

For example, Zuckerberg’s recently dispatched internal email is highlighted, in which he said the Facebook News Feed is the home page for more than 250 million people every day. A figure that, when coupled with Facebook’s stat that 50 percent of its active users log on “on any given day,” would also push the user base towards 500 million.

In related news, opportunistic social network startups (such as Diaspora) have begun circling above Facebook like vultures over an injured animal.

However, with an apparent user base of 500 million, and the reassurance that this week’s ‘Quit Facebook Day’ campaign sank without trace, it would appear Zuckerberg’s beast is alive and well.

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