"It's a platform that has survived and grown despite its privacy issues, usability issues and security problems," said Brad Shimmin, an analyst at CurrentAnalysis.

"Facebook has shown that despite struggling in a number of key areas, like generating money off its , the company has been able to maintain and grow a very valuable user base," he added.

The growing user base, Shimmin said, is an indication of the human need for connection and how it's now playing out electronically.

"We're asking ourselves: What do you even compare this to? There's nothing. There's just nothing," he said. "We're entering new territory here with this kind of milestone."

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Thursday said that the social network reached the 1 billion active monthly user milestone at 3:45 a.m. EDT on Sept 14. With that total, one out of seven people on the planet are now Facebook users.