Facebook Is Quickly Closing in on 2 Billion Users
![Mark Zuckerberg, chairman and CEO of Facebook](https://cdn.nextgov.com/media/img/cd/2017/02/02/020217markzuckerbergNG/860x394.jpg?1627518326)
Mark Zuckerberg, chairman and CEO of Facebook Esteban Felix/AP
Soon, there won’t be any internet users left to join Mark Zuckerberg’s club.
Soon, there won’t be any internet users left to join Mark Zuckerberg’s club.
Facebook announced another set of strong earnings today, and updated its metrics on how many people use the world’s largest social network. Over 1.86 billion people now check Facebook at least once a month. That’s a greater number than the populations of North and South America and Europe, combined.
After Facebook’s last earnings report in Nov. 2016, the company had already secured more than half of the world’s internet-connected people as users. Facebook is working on a slew of connectivity projects, including giant laser-emitting drones, to try to drum up new users in areas without robust internet connections.
It has also reportedly considered changing its stance on state-controlled censorship on its site to get a foothold into China. With an estimated 720 million internet users, there would be a lot of new space for Facebook to grow behind China’s Great Firewall. But there are some signs those users will be harder to come by than the first 2 billion.