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Facebook Hits Milestone: 1 Billion People Used It in a Day

Mark Zuckerberg took to (what else?) Facebook to announce that the previous day set a record for the social network: a billion users in one day.
Image: People pose with mobile devices in front of projection of Facebook logo in this picture illustration taken in Zenica
People are silhouetted as they pose with mobile devices in front of a screen projected with a Facebook logo, in this picture illustration taken in Zenica October 29, 2014.DADO RUVIC / Reuters
Image: Mark Zuckerberg
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers the opening kenote at the Facebook f8 conference on April 30, 2014 in San Francisco, California.Getty Images, file

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to (what else?) Facebook on Thursday to announce a momentous record for the social network: 1 billion users in one day.

"This was the first time we reached this milestone, and it's just the beginning of connecting the whole world," Zuckerberg wrote in a post. "Our community stands for giving every person a voice, for promoting understanding and for including everyone in the opportunities of our modern world."

Related: Facebook Revenue Jumps 39 Percent as Mobile Ad Sales Rise

The 1 billion number includes anyone who logged into a Facebook service or sent a message on Messenger, so it's not like 1 out of 7 people in the world spent the whole day scrolling through their News Feed — but it's still a really big number.

It seems even bigger when you consider that more than half the world lives without an Internet connection, according to Facebook's own estimate — so the people on Earth who could access Facebook and did is more like 1 in 3. Don't worry, though, Facebook is working hard to get everyone else online via Internet.org, so they can use Facebook too. Data-efficient mobile apps for areas with limited connectivity also help get isolated or marginalized populations on the social network.

Related: Facebook Shows Off Its Solar-Powered 'Aquila' Internet Drone

These stats may creep some out — Facebook is also the world's biggest ad platform, of course — and they may delight others. But it's hard not to be impressed either way.