Facebook is now the most influential social network in the world with 2bn users

Mark Zuckerberg has added another billion to its already extensive user base. Yes, now Facebook has 2 billion monthly users. That's basically two-thirds of the world's population with Internet access.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the milestone on a " target="_blank">post and said, "As of this morning, the Facebook community is now officially 2 billion people! We're making progress connecting the world, and now let's bring the world closer together."

"It's an honour to be on this journey with you," he added.

Considering Facebook's performance in the last decade, it's actually not an unprecedented milestone. In a blog post, Mike Nowak, Product Director and Guillermo Spiller, Product Manager wrote, "This wouldn’t have happened without the millions of smaller communities and individuals who are sharing and making meaningful contributions every day. Each day, more than 175 million people share a Love reaction, and on average, over 800 million people like something on Facebook. More than 1 billion people use Groups every month."

With social media giant leading the race with two billion, YouTube’s is in the second position with 1.5 billion, WeChat comes in the third place with 889 million. Twitter and Snapchat were able to garner 328 million and 255 million respectively. Facebook's other apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger also holds 1.2 billion users, and Instagram has 700 million monthly active users as of February 2017.

Facebook also revealed more than 175 million people share “love” and more than 800 million people “like” something on Facebook every day. More than 1 billion people use Facebook Groups every month.

In the company's most recently reported quarter, ending March 31, total monthly users grew 17 percent year-over-year to 1.94 billion people, from the same period a year earlier. And year-over-year, daily active users in that quarter increased by 18 percent to 1.28 billion.

The company celebrated the milestone by unveiling a host of new tools for Facebook groups, which is used by more than 1 billion people every month. Facebook also introduced a personalised “Good Adds Up” video that users can make and share.

At the Facebook's Community Summit in Chicago, Zuckerberg also revealed the company's new mission, “Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together." Zuckerberg called the statement "an extension" of the company's original mission of making the world "more open and connected."

In an interview at Facebook's Menlo Park, California headquarters earlier this month Zuckerberg said, "We feel like our responsibility is expanding, especially around passing this milestone of 2 billion people in the community. We’ve been thinking about what our responsibility is in the world and what we need to do."

The company has set a goal to help 1 billion users become part of what Zuckerberg calls "meaningful groups," in a push to bring a stronger community engagement online and offline to solve critical global problems like climate change and public health issues.

“A more connected world is going to be necessary to take on the greatest opportunities and challenges for the next generation, everything from stopping climate change, to stopping pandemics, to funding research,” Zuckerberg said.

Apart from the 'Good Adds up' campaign, Facebook will also start thanking users for sending Love reactions, happy birthday wishes, and creating groups as part of the milestone celebration.