Getting to Understand and Appreciate Facebook: in Toronto Tonight, Live and in Person, Not Cyberspace (Facebook Garage 5)
This evening’s Facebook Garage started with presenters sharing some Facebook facts:
Basic Statistics
• 150 million users, worldwide (as of January 09).
• The average user has 120 friends.
• 70% of users are outside the US.
• More than 50% of users are beyond college age.
• 3 billion minutes every day are spent on FB.
• FB is the 6th largest "web property" in the world.
• FB’s intention: to help make the world more open and and connected (a better place).
• 6000 developers are involved with platform-building.
Facebook and Canadians
• Canadians use social networks more than any country in the world and spend the most minutes on FB (300 a month, per user).
• 50% of Canadians are on FB and half of these people are on every day.
• Over 70% of Torontonians are on FB.
Three Uniquely Facebook Features
One click log-in, and then:
1. Identity: FB is the first site where people gave their real world identity
2. Friends: FB connects peoples’ real world friends (friends that users already have, not random friendships). Most users bring friends with them…and then there’s "social filtering." Whatever your friends have contributed will come to you, and you’ll be more interested in it because of who is involved.
3. Distribution: FB information is shared between friends. All links go back and around, and conversations start…
Facebook is Evolving
• FB’s 2006 (old) look recently got a makeover.
• "Facebook Connect" has been introduced. "Facebook Connect" goes beyond FB into the wider Web. 6,000 sites have adopted "Facebook Connect," so far, and the number of registered users to those Websites has been seen to increase 20 - 100% in one day with it.
Hot Topics
• Check out "Facebook Connect" (http://developers.facebook.com/fbconnect.php)
• Facebook is hiring!
