Is Facebook Taking Over the Web?

With Twitter getting so much attention these days, Facebook almost seems to have drifted into the background.  But the more you look at data on web traffic, the more you realize how big a force Facebook has become. 

The chart below is from Mary Meeker's presentation at the Web 2.0 conference a few weeks ago.  It clearly illustrates Facebook's rapid rise to key web player status.

 

Marketing Charts has another angle on the growth of Facebook.  Their chart (below and sourced from Nielsen) shows the top 10 U.S. Web brands by unique visitors and time spent in September.  Facebook is 4th in terms of audience size and 1st in terms of time spent per person.

 

What is striking about Facebook is not the size of their audience or how much time people spend on the site.  It is their growth rate on both metrics that is impressive.  They are quickly becoming the place people hang out on the web. 

Despite these numbers, the vast majority of small businesses do not need a Facebook presence at this time.  It is not yet a site most customers turn to for business purposes.

But it is time to pay attention to Facebook and start to understand how you can use it for your business - because the day is coming when a Facebook presence will be required.

Comments

[About Facebook]

yeah FB is now on tops and elected as a history best website ..

[Pioneer DEH-2200UB]

I really think that sites like facebook etc shouldn't exist.They are only bad for the relationships between people.BAN them!

[Air Jordan Flight 9]

Great distinctions. It is so important that we identify who is around and keep them separate in our dealings. and ou know, instead of telling people to implement comment moderation, you could just stop leaving stupid looney-bin spam comments everywhere.

[Audrey]

Some see twitter as a passing fad ( http://www.rapidpig.com ) that is wholly endorsed by the various celebrities etc, shame really as it does have its place in branding and networking.

[Jon]

Screw this. It's a HUGE invasion of privacy. I don't need nor want websites to know who I am, any of my personal information, nor who my friends are. I've deleted my account. Good riddance.

[joseph quivey]

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[Lorraine]

Thank you for this information. I saw Facebook coming up more and more in discussions but I had no idea it was becoming this important. www.wizetime.com

[4gb usb drive]

Facebook won’t be stopped in its tracks unless or until another network emerges that offers something faster, slicker, easier or sexier.Any diehard Facebooker will admit the service ain’t perfect, but here is a tech startup that figured out a long time ago how to get people to spread the word about it.

[Certified Financial Planner Raleigh]

You seem to have got the niche from the root, Awesome work

Regards

[Gill]

I am not so sure that Facebook has come out of the attention of many, in fact, the more I speak to people, the more seem to wander away from twitter in search of something more, which of course FB offers.

Some see twitter as a passing fad that is wholly endorsed by the various celebrities etc, shame really as it does have its place in branding and networking.