The social media world has changed again.  Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg made a blog entry on December 1st which included a few statements regarding the future of regional networks on the site.   Why is this important?  There are over 350 million users registered with Facebook.  As a frame of reference, the 2009 census places the population of the United States of America at just over 300 million.

The regional networks Facebook users have come to know will be scrapped.  Because Facebook’s user base has grown so large, using regional networks to connect people is no longer a viable option.  Some networks had several million members—entirely too large to be useful, now they’re being removed to make room for a new system.

Users are said to be offered significantly more control over who sees what on their page.  Most of these alterations can be made in the user’s privacy settings.  If you’re interested in how this will effect your account, check out the new options in the security settings for yourself and get to know them.

This is just another case of social media working to help consumers shape the product they are using. Facebook’s team listened to their community, and took the appropriate action to attempt to make their service more valuable.  That’s social media’s persuasive force in action.