Facebook celebrates fifth birthday

Facebook is five years old today

Facebook is celebrating its fifth birthday today, and has used the landmark to update the statistics on its growth since it was founded in 2004.

The average Facebook user has 120 'friends', and the site's 15 million users spend a combined three billion minutes a day updating their status, according to the company.

Facebook has also grown internationally, and more than 70 per cent of users are now based outside the US.

The company has posted several screenshots on the site showing how it has changed over the years (see below). Facebook is no longer a college phenomenon, the company said, and its fastest growing demographic is people aged 30 years and older.

The firm has also been keen to demonstrate that its users are ideal for marketers, having recently launched a Polling Ad at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which allows advertisers to poll a selection of users in order to test the waters for new marketing initiatives.

"The vast majority are not just college students in the US talking about things in their bedrooms," said Randi Zuckerberg, sister of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, at the event. "We are showing how we are a serious and insightful community."

As Facebook turns five, companies that support the firm are keen to point out the business benefits of the site.

"Social networks have changed the game for business communications," said Stephen Beyron, managing director of telecoms supplier Telewest Business. " Organisations need to look at how they can leverage this technology, not at how they can suppress it."

Facebook in 2005:

Facebook in 2009: