Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has
suggested Facebook is able to offer a
sense of community, filling the gap left by
falling church membership.
As the social networking site
announced it had hit the two billion
user mark – with one in every four
people now using Facebook every
month – Zuckerberg boasted the
“world is a little brighter now”.
With 100 million users taking part in
what Zuckerberg called “meaningful
communities” within Groups on
Facebook, he spoke of his ambition to
raise that number to a billion.
He said: “If we can do this, it will not
only turn around the whole decline in
community membership we’ve seen
for decades, it will start to strengthen
our social fabric and bring the world
closer together.”
Comparing the site to a church, he
went on to talk about the need for
“great leaders” in such a community,
saying: “A church doesn’t just come
together. It has a pastor who cares for
the well-being of their congregation,
makes sure they have food and
shelter.”
He went on to say: “People who go to
church are more likely to volunteer
and give to charity – not just because
they’re religious, but because they’re
part of a community.”
Earlier in the year, Zuckerberg
published a 6,500-word manifesto to
beat fake news, outlining his plan to
“come together to build a global
community that works for everyone”.
However, last week the network
changed its mission statement from
“Make the world more open and
connected” to “Bring the world closer
together”.
Announcing the two billion user
milestone on his Facebook page,
Zuckerberg wrote: “We’re making
progress connecting the world”. He
went on to say: “It’s an honor to be on
this journey with you”.
The tech giant has manged to double
its audience over the last five years
after reaching the one billion user
landmark in October 2012.
Every day, more than 800 million
people “like” something on Facebook
and more than 750 million new
friends connect.
Founded 13 years ago, Facebook is
now one of the world’s most valuable
companies, worth $65bn (£51bn).
But it’s not all good news for Facebook.
A recent report looking into the music
and social media habits of young
people aged up to 19 – dubbed
Generation Z – claimed the site may
soon become a thing of the past as the
digital natives turn to SnapChat and
Instagram.
And the site has recently faced a
barrage of criticism for failing to
moderate extreme content.
It responded by introducing artificial
intelligence to remove terrorist
content and 3,000 extra staff in an
effort to stop violent and illegal
uploads appearing on the platform.
Meanwhile, the social network has
announced that it intends to start
broadcasting its own shows and series
by the end of the summer.
Relationship drama Strangers and
game show Last State Standing are
pencilled in to be the first shows to be
aired on the platform.
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