Facebook's 845 Million Members May Not All Visit The Site

According to Facebook's prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a user doesn't have to visit the site directly to be counted as active.

We’ve long worked with a statistic that about half of Facebook’s membership of into the site daily, but what about the rest of the 845 million monthly active users the company cites?

According to Facebook’s prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a user doesn’t have to visit the site directly to be counted as active.

Simply like an article in a favorite newspaper, or post a message to the social network via Twitter, or share music with friends from Spotify, or touch any other third-party website that uses Facebook’s plugins, and the company considers you an active user.

Andrew Ross Sorkin of The New York Times questions the accuracy of Facebook’s tally, although he can only nail down a possible discrepancy of about 40 million, based on December data from the Nielsen Company.

AW+

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Spring Special

Save 30% Off an ADWEEK Subscription Today!

View Your Options

Already a member? Sign in