5 ms·

Facebook has become the third largest nation

12 points by jakarta 16y ago

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
jbail 16y ago
"[It] is a device that allows people to get together and control their own destiny..." Seeing that my high school classmates have gotten fatter helps me control my own destiny how?
- Anon84 16y ago
  By making it easier to convince yourself to work out regularly.
  - jbail 16y ago
    Or it helps me justify not working out because everyone else got fat too.
gdl 16y ago
That's not true. I'm pretty sure it would be topped by the nations of: 1) People that eat rice, 2) Those living below 1000ft altitude, and 3) People whose favorite color is either red or blue. Oh, wait, those are all random collections of people that have nothing to do with "nations". My bad. Also, it claims Facebook in 3rd at 500 million, US in 4th at 310 million; so it would have jumped into 3rd quite a while ago, making the country comparison even less relevent as a news claim. Is it really that hard just to say that Facebook now has 500 million users and leave it at that without making up a silly headline and graphic?
- w1ntermute 16y ago
  > Oh, wait, those are all random collections of people that have nothing to do with "nations". My bad. "“[It] is a device that allows people to get together and control their own destiny, much like our nation-state,” says David Post, a law professor at Temple University, Philadelphia."
  - michael_dorfman 16y ago
    "“[It] is a device that allows people to get together and control their own destiny, much like our nation-state,” says David Post, a law professor at Temple University, Philadelphia." I am so happy I didn't have any professors so dense as to think that "coming together" on a social networking site had anything to do with the kind of "controlling one's destiny" that a nation-state provides. I'm hoping the guy was seriously misquoted.
omouse 16y ago
One of the largest fascist nations too? It is a corporation and a dictatorship of sorts isn't it?
- anamax 16y ago
  > It is a corporation and a dictatorship of sorts isn't it? Facebook is a corporation, but it lacks the ability to coerce anyone. Instead, it depends on their voluntary acts, which they're free to stop at any time. Dictatorships, heck govts, don't work that way.
  - jbooth 16y ago
    Well, most liberal governments, you're free to leave and go somewhere else at any time. You can even cancel your citizenship if you want.
    - michael_dorfman 16y ago
      ...if somewhere else will take you in. This can be non-trivial, especially if you are planning on working for a living.
      - jbooth 16y ago
        There's always someplace you could move and pull it off. It just might not be nice.
Anon84 16y ago
How long until they start issuing passports?
ryandvm 16y ago
I shudder at the thought of a nation made up of Facebook users. It would be like a nation of People subscribers, except they'd also play inane grinding games...
- johnfn 16y ago
  I feel like there's some sort of incredible potential here, if only we could get grinding games to correspond to some real world activity...
  - Goronmon 16y ago
    Sounds like the book MetaGame.
- athom 16y ago
  And just think, if the grinders actually made any money at it, they'd be the next economic powerhouse!
Gibbon 16y ago
My 70 year old father has a facebook account and doesn't have the slighest clue what do with it, consequently it goes unused. They may 500 million accounts but they only get 150 million or less users per month. Of that, I bet 50 million of them make up the lion's share of the pageviews. 5 million are complete facebook nutters playing farmville and mobwars 24/7. If Facebook is a nation of 500 million then the US is a nation of billions, if you count all the tourists and business types flying in/out.
- jonknee 16y ago
  The 500m figure was for active users. I'm not sure they announce exactly what that means, but typically it's a sign in during the past ~30 days.
- whatusername 16y ago
  Except that facebook report their user numbers as users who have logged into FB in the last 30 days. So either they are lying or you are wrong.
- aristus 16y ago
  To answer your speculations: no, no, no and no. Here is the first result from Google for "facebook statistics". http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics
- dnaquin 16y ago
  "users who have returned to the site in the last 30 days" facebook.com/press/info.php?factsheet
HappySushiCo 16y ago
Sure, Facebook is the 3rd largest nation, but how many of those accounts are multiples belonging to the same person?
DanielBMarkham 16y ago
The day Facebook monopolizes the use of force on its members? That's the day it becomes an nation. It is nowhere near, no matter how many people join.

12 points by jakarta 16y ago

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

jbail 16y ago

"[It] is a device that allows people to get together and control their own destiny..." Seeing that my high school classmates have gotten fatter helps me control my own destiny how?

Anon84 16y ago
By making it easier to convince yourself to work out regularly.
- jbail 16y ago
  Or it helps me justify not working out because everyone else got fat too.

gdl 16y ago

That's not true. I'm pretty sure it would be topped by the nations of: 1) People that eat rice, 2) Those living below 1000ft altitude, and 3) People whose favorite color is either red or blue. Oh, wait, those are all random collections of people that have nothing to do with "nations". My bad. Also, it claims Facebook in 3rd at 500 million, US in 4th at 310 million; so it would have jumped into 3rd quite a while ago, making the country comparison even less relevent as a news claim. Is it really that hard just to say that Facebook now has 500 million users and leave it at that without making up a silly headline and graphic?

w1ntermute 16y ago
> Oh, wait, those are all random collections of people that have nothing to do with "nations". My bad. "“[It] is a device that allows people to get together and control their own destiny, much like our nation-state,” says David Post, a law professor at Temple University, Philadelphia."
- michael_dorfman 16y ago
  "“[It] is a device that allows people to get together and control their own destiny, much like our nation-state,” says David Post, a law professor at Temple University, Philadelphia." I am so happy I didn't have any professors so dense as to think that "coming together" on a social networking site had anything to do with the kind of "controlling one's destiny" that a nation-state provides. I'm hoping the guy was seriously misquoted.

omouse 16y ago

One of the largest fascist nations too? It is a corporation and a dictatorship of sorts isn't it?

anamax 16y ago
> It is a corporation and a dictatorship of sorts isn't it? Facebook is a corporation, but it lacks the ability to coerce anyone. Instead, it depends on their voluntary acts, which they're free to stop at any time. Dictatorships, heck govts, don't work that way.
- jbooth 16y ago
  Well, most liberal governments, you're free to leave and go somewhere else at any time. You can even cancel your citizenship if you want.
  - michael_dorfman 16y ago
    ...if somewhere else will take you in. This can be non-trivial, especially if you are planning on working for a living.
    - jbooth 16y ago
      There's always someplace you could move and pull it off. It just might not be nice.

Anon84 16y ago

How long until they start issuing passports?

ryandvm 16y ago

I shudder at the thought of a nation made up of Facebook users. It would be like a nation of People subscribers, except they'd also play inane grinding games...

johnfn 16y ago
I feel like there's some sort of incredible potential here, if only we could get grinding games to correspond to some real world activity...
- Goronmon 16y ago
  Sounds like the book MetaGame.
athom 16y ago
And just think, if the grinders actually made any money at it, they'd be the next economic powerhouse!

Gibbon 16y ago

My 70 year old father has a facebook account and doesn't have the slighest clue what do with it, consequently it goes unused. They may 500 million accounts but they only get 150 million or less users per month. Of that, I bet 50 million of them make up the lion's share of the pageviews. 5 million are complete facebook nutters playing farmville and mobwars 24/7. If Facebook is a nation of 500 million then the US is a nation of billions, if you count all the tourists and business types flying in/out.

jonknee 16y ago
The 500m figure was for active users. I'm not sure they announce exactly what that means, but typically it's a sign in during the past ~30 days.
whatusername 16y ago
Except that facebook report their user numbers as users who have logged into FB in the last 30 days. So either they are lying or you are wrong.
aristus 16y ago
To answer your speculations: no, no, no and no. Here is the first result from Google for "facebook statistics". http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics
dnaquin 16y ago
"users who have returned to the site in the last 30 days" facebook.com/press/info.php?factsheet

HappySushiCo 16y ago

Sure, Facebook is the 3rd largest nation, but how many of those accounts are multiples belonging to the same person?

DanielBMarkham 16y ago

The day Facebook monopolizes the use of force on its members? That's the day it becomes an nation. It is nowhere near, no matter how many people join.