S
C
: almost a nation
(ANS – Rome) – If it were an
independent nation, Facebook
would be in third place after Chi-
na and India in terms of popula-
tion. It would be a superpower at
world level which could aspire to
a permanent seat on UN Security
Council.
The Wall Street Journal has pub-
lished some data on the popula-
tion of the social network found-
ed by Mark Zuckerberg. On 31st
March this year, Facebook had
901 million users active during
the month, 33% higher than the
680 million on 31st March 2011.
The data was obtained from doc-
umentation provided to the Secu-
rities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) in view of the launch of
the social network on the Stock
Exchange.
Facebook has a population three
times greater than that of the
United States. Compared with
the two superpowers on the plan-
et in a demographic, but also an
economic sense, Facebook has
300 millions citizens less than
India and about 400 million less
than China. The data sent to the
SEC show a constant increase in
the number of users. During 2011
Facebook saw a growth of 72
million users (11.9%) in the rst
quarter, of 59 million (8.7%) in
the second, 61 million (8.2%) in
the third and 45 million (5.6%)
in the fourth quarter. In the rst
quarter of 2012 the increase was
56 million (6.6%).
These gures, from just one so-
cial network, demonstrate how
the ‘digital continent,’ without
geographical borders, has a real
existence. The world of com-
merce is well aware of this: the
launch of Facebook on the stock
exchange was welcomed with en-
thusiasm.
AdgeignSietaraleal stiiaonn?
priests, religious and semi-
narians. Although it is lim-
ited to Italian context, the
inquiry is surely indicative
of the situation in wider so-
ciety, in the Church, and, in
(ANS – Rome) – Interesting
results are arriving from research
carried out by the Catholic Uni-
versity of Milan’s Centre for
Research in Education for Me-
dia and Information Technology
(CREMIT) and the Department
of Institutions and Society of the
University of Perugia on behalf of
the Italian Association of Catho-
lic Webmasters. The research
our case, in the Salesian context.
The research carried out by CRE-
MIT shows that 20% of diocesan
priests and of male religious have
a pro le on Facebook. This is
higher than that of Italian citi-
zens in general. The percentage
rises to 59.7% for seminarians, a
clear sign of the greater use of
such sites by younger genera-
tions.
concerns the use of Facebook by Read more
InTouch 8 5.10.12
“The digital world presents us
with new challenges. It’s not just
a matter of sur ng the web or
being able to read something on
a screen; it’s about approaching
the situation with new hermeneu-
tic criteria and discovering novel
methods of pastoral activity. Our
mission to young people, in edu-
cation and evangelisation, can
only take advantage from this if
we enter it in the style of ‘Sale-
sian Assistance’, with the pasto-
ral heart of Don Bosco.”
Fr. Filiberto Gonzalez, SDB,
General Councilor for Social
Communication