Facebook sets user record as more than 1bn people log on in single day

Facebook has revealed that more than 1bn people used the site on Monday - the first time the social network has hit the milestone.

Mark Zuckerberg, who founded the company in 2004 while studying at Harvard, said he felt "proud" that one-in-seven people on Earth logged on to the website during the day.

The 31-year-old wrote in a post on Facebook and also uploaded a video containing posts from users across the world to celebrate the achievement, tagged with the heading "feeling connected".

Although Mr Zuckerberg did not specify what had caused the rise in the number of users, the website has consistently attracted more followers.

Last month Mr Zuckerberg revealed Facebook had 1.49bn monthly active users, up 13pc from a year earlier.

In addition, Monday also saw many large events hit the headlines, which would also have been shared on the website, including a global stock market crash that rocked most countries, sparked by fears China is heading for a financial crisis.

Facebook's near-dominance of the social network sector has made Mr Zuckerberg the ninth richest person on the planet.

Facebook now accounts for one out of every five minutes people spend on mobile phones in the US.

In the three months ended June 30, the company's revenues jumped to $4.04bn, from $2.91bn in the same period last year.

However, net income attributable to stockholders fell to $715m, from $788m, as total costs and expenses jumped 82pc to $2.77bn.

Facebook is branching out from its roots and investing in future products such as virtual reality headset Oculus Rift.

It also bought messaging service WhatsApp last year fro $19bn.

"We're investing in the next set of services and what will be future investments like Messenger, WhatsApp and Oculus," chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg said last month.

On Oculus, Mr Zuckerberg said that "immersive 3D content is the obvious next thing" after video, which has recorded huge growth on the website.

Source: Telegraph