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Back when I worked there, I "audited" the systems that count Facebook's active users. I needed to analyze code efficiency and feature growth over long periods o

by aristus 11y ago

Back when I worked there, I "audited" the systems that count Facebook's active users. I needed to analyze code efficiency and feature growth over long periods of time, and so needed very accurate user counts in order to subtract user growth. Without going into details / trade secrets: there is more than one system, they can cross-check each other, and if anything it's conservative. You have to perform legit, non-drive-by actions on either the site or the app before you're counted as an active user on a given day.

tacone 11y ago
Does that include "Like buttons" and other widgets on third party websites or not?
- bigtones 11y ago
  Yes this metric counts those too.
bigtones 11y ago
They are not talking about active users. The metric quoted was "used Facebook in a single day". I know for a fact that they count any "Like" click or any Facebook comment on any web page on the internet when they quote "used Facebook". It does not mean logged into one of their apps.
- aristus 11y ago
  I personally audited the entire pipeline, and code, from collection to analysis all the way to the little DAU ("daily active users") graph that informs this number. That experience, and years of working on related data sets inside Facebook, are enough to convince me that the 1B number is legit. If that's not enough for you, well, maybe I can't help that. But I am curious what evidence leads you to believe something different. Serious question, genuinely curious. Edit: to be clear, and IIRC, seeing a Like button is not counted. Actually Liking something, which posts to your news feed, does.
  - lifeisstillgood 11y ago
    You both seem to be saying the same thing - actively clicking on a like button gets counted as a real genuine user of Facebook. That seems reasonable (one is logged in, and clicks something sending data to FB) Neither of you have said just having FB button appear on a 3rd party site counts - that would get what 3bn users :-)
    - aristus 11y ago
      I think so, rereading. But many people assume that simply visiting a page with a widget counts.
- peteretep 11y ago
  Given that both actions require a Facebook account that you're logged in to, that seems pretty reasonable
- toephu2 11y ago
  "I know for a fact" and how do you know this? do you work at facebook? Someone who used to work there just gave a contradicting statement
jfoutz 11y ago
That sounds pretty amazing. Can you offer any insight about users with multiple accounts? Back in the farmville days, people with 10 accounts seemed pretty common. An account just for tinder, or a professional account seems to be a common tactic as well. I'm curious if multiple accounts are common, or just a few percent of users take it to that level.
- aristus 11y ago
  Tricky question. I was working on perf, so I could avoid the tricky philosophical / data science questions like that. FB did say in 2012 that they believe 8.7% of accounts were dupes or fakes. I can't say what the number is now, nor comment on how that relates to DAU accounting, but that's a good rough upper bound. Further, deponent sayeth not.

by aristus 11y ago

tacone 11y ago

Does that include "Like buttons" and other widgets on third party websites or not?

bigtones 11y ago
Yes this metric counts those too.

bigtones 11y ago

They are not talking about active users. The metric quoted was "used Facebook in a single day". I know for a fact that they count any "Like" click or any Facebook comment on any web page on the internet when they quote "used Facebook". It does not mean logged into one of their apps.

aristus 11y ago
I personally audited the entire pipeline, and code, from collection to analysis all the way to the little DAU ("daily active users") graph that informs this number. That experience, and years of working on related data sets inside Facebook, are enough to convince me that the 1B number is legit. If that's not enough for you, well, maybe I can't help that. But I am curious what evidence leads you to believe something different. Serious question, genuinely curious. Edit: to be clear, and IIRC, seeing a Like button is not counted. Actually Liking something, which posts to your news feed, does.
- lifeisstillgood 11y ago
  You both seem to be saying the same thing - actively clicking on a like button gets counted as a real genuine user of Facebook. That seems reasonable (one is logged in, and clicks something sending data to FB) Neither of you have said just having FB button appear on a 3rd party site counts - that would get what 3bn users :-)
  - aristus 11y ago
    I think so, rereading. But many people assume that simply visiting a page with a widget counts.
peteretep 11y ago
Given that both actions require a Facebook account that you're logged in to, that seems pretty reasonable
toephu2 11y ago
"I know for a fact" and how do you know this? do you work at facebook? Someone who used to work there just gave a contradicting statement

jfoutz 11y ago

That sounds pretty amazing. Can you offer any insight about users with multiple accounts? Back in the farmville days, people with 10 accounts seemed pretty common. An account just for tinder, or a professional account seems to be a common tactic as well. I'm curious if multiple accounts are common, or just a few percent of users take it to that level.

aristus 11y ago
Tricky question. I was working on perf, so I could avoid the tricky philosophical / data science questions like that. FB did say in 2012 that they believe 8.7% of accounts were dupes or fakes. I can't say what the number is now, nor comment on how that relates to DAU accounting, but that's a good rough upper bound. Further, deponent sayeth not.