Facebook now connects 500 million users worldwide

Facebook announced Wednesday that it now has 500 million active users, thus becoming the most popular social networking site; however, it aspires to reach 1 billion members and at its current growth rate, it could reach that goal within a year. 

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said that he never imagined all of the ways people would use the social networking site when he started it six years ago. "I could have never imagined all of the ways people would use Facebook when we were getting started six years ago," he wrote in a blog post Wednesday. It’s worth mentioning that six years after getting its start in a Harvard dorm room, Facebook’s founder said it was aiming to have 1 billion members, matching the reach of Internet search giant Google Inc.

"We all love to dream big around here," said Randi Zuckerberg, the sister of Mark Zuckerberg, who handles marketing. "We are going to take a day or so to celebrate 500 million users before we start thinking about going beyond that."

Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook as a place for college students to connect with one another. Since then it has been ‘on a tear’, connecting people worldwide.

Facebook is now the world's largest social networking site, above Twitter Inc. with 105 million users and LinkedIn Corp. with 70 million.