As of March 31st 2011, Facebook had as many as 664 million subscribers worldwide, meaning that one third of worldwide internet users are signed up to Facebook.
The creation of the new Chinese networking platform would mean another big step in Facebook’s attempt to conquer the world.
Sohu.com reports that Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg and Baidu CEO Robin Li have been preparing this partnership over the past year. The Chinese government currently blocks a number of websites due to strict privacy laws, with illegalities including pornography, gambling and any anti communist content. Facebook is already amongst the blocked sites, something that Zuckerberg has long since been openly seeking to change.
As a result Facebook and Baidu have come up with a social networking concept solely for the Chinese population, without any international integration. At this stage the union has not been officially confirmed, however Facebook has admitted that it is currently evaluating the practicality this concept.
Whilst Facebook’s success is set for further global growth, the business is not without obstacles. Having only recently survived a court case against the Winklevoss twins over claims that Zuckerberg had stolen an idea for a social networking platform whilst working for the brothers in his time at Harvard University, a former employer named Paul Ceglia has now issued a complaint with the Federal Court in New York over ownership of Facebook. Ceglia claims to possess emails dating back to 2003 that apparently show Zuckerberg promising an 84% stake in the then fledgling business.
As the latest Internet World stats (IWS) show, the continuing events mentioned have not hurt Facebook’s popularity. Day on day its network grows, and we can only be curious what the future will bring.
Facebook World Statistics – March 31, 2011/Subscribers by World Regions
Source: Miniwatts Marketing Group, Internet World Stats, Facebook subscribers for March 31, 2011. Notes: a) Population 2011 data comes from the US Census Bureau; b) Facebook user figures come from Facebook, Socialbakers,and other trustworthy sources; c) Mexico is included in Latin America and Turkey is included in Europe, according to the United Nations country classification
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