• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, October 4, 2012

In need of some good news, Facebook on Thursday said it finally surpassed 1 billion active users, i.e., those who visit the site at least once a month.

“Facebook has topped 1 billion users, but the past few months have not been easy,” writes The San Francisco Chronicle.

“One billion users might be more than just a nice badge to stick on the fridge,” The New York Times’ Bits blog writes. “After Facebook’s lackluster initial public offering, showing that the company is still growing might help to lift Wall Street’s confidence in the company.”

“Hitting that milestone allows Facebook to become an even more important identity layer for more companies, who can use Facebook to register users and connect them,” according to GigaOm.

Yet, “Facebook apparently won't be resting on its 1 billion laurels,” reports the Los Angeles Times. “It must prove its worth to investors, not just users, and is already focused on the next billion users, and in getting them more engaged with the service.”

“Facebook now also has 600 million mobile users,” notes The Wall Street Journal, citing a fact sheet included with the growth announcement.

Also of note, people have used the “Like” button more than 1.1 trillion times since it was added in February 2009, according to Facebook.

“For advertisers, those numbers might seem less important than the median age of Facebook’s 1 billion users: 22,” Bits adds. “That is a prime market for advertisers and marketers. And those users are getting younger.”