“Helping a billion people connect is amazing, humbling and by far the thing I am most proud of in my life,” read Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook Timeline on Thursday morning.

Facebook finally reached 1 billion users on Sept. 14, making 1/7 of the population a part of the social network. The members of the company celebrated with an on-campus hackathon Wednesday night, in which programmers collaborated to make the software even more accessible by making modifications such as adding new features. The company is looking to make Facebook easier to reach from mobile devices. This should extend the range of Facebook users largely to other countries, where mobile devices are more commonly used to communicate.

Unfortunately, the goal of another billion users on Facebook is made more difficult by the Chinese government’s blockage of the website. China has been denied Facebook access since 2009, but many still break through the firewall to socialize. Facebook officials hope to keep the company growing and expand to other countries first.

Here at West Ranch, students use Facebook daily to communicate among their friends. Although the buzz around it may have cooled in comparison to newer networks such as Twitter and Instagram, it is still frequented by much of our school’s population.

“It’s a great way to keep in touch with friends and family, especially since I have several friends at other schools,” said sophomore Jessy Holen. “It’s also a cool way to learn about the other people around you.”

On Thursday, Zuckerberg’s post read: “This morning, there are more than one billion people using Facebook each month. If you’re reading this: thank you for giving me and my little team the honor of serving you.”