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It may be the largest city in Canada and the centre of the universe to some, but when it comes to Facebook.com, Toronto can only say it's second best.
Some time last week, London, England leapfrogged the Big Smoke and stole the crown for top geographic network on Facebook. According to statistics from the popular social networking destination ending Monday, slightly less than 810,000 Londoners have signed up to Facebook, while Toronto lagged far behind with 705,000 users.
Facebook senior communications manager Matt Hicks admits he can't give a specific reason to why London shot past Toronto, but said that both cities' growth rates are in line with the company's worldwide user base.
"Canada overall does continue to grow rapidly for Facebook, at about 4 per cent a week and the Toronto network is growing similarly," Mr. Hicks said in an e-mail.
Although Torontonians may not be the darling of Facebook any more, they are a large part of the nationwide contingent that visits the site in droves. Facebook says that Canadians account for more than 10 per cent of the site's total population and according to web measurement firm ComScore, in June 2007, 11.4 million Canadians logged onto Facebook, compared with only 343,000 in the same period last year.
Once a social networking haven for college students, Facebook's decision to open registration to all users in Sept., 2006 has helped attract new visitors from outside the 18-to-24 year-old demographic. Once registered on the site, users can chat with friends, upload photos and place free classified advertisements.
The popularity of the website hasn't gone unnoticed by provincial officials.
Last May, the provincial government blocked Facebook access to employees, MPPs, and cabinet ministers on government computers. The OPP also uses Facebook regularly to keep an eye out for underage drinking parties and four high school students at Toronto's Birchmount Park Collegiate were arrested last March following a Facebook-related protest.
