More than 8.5 Million Canadians have a Facebook account.  23 Million Canadians have access to the internet.

In other words, 1/3 of Canadian internet users are easily found in one place.

Facebook is more than just a social network, a place to find old school friends.  For many it has become the internet.  There is no need to go to any other page than Facebook.

On Facebook they can share photos.  They can instant message.  They can interact and comment on each other’s posts and status.  They can join groups and manage calendars for events.  They check email. They can read news and posted links from friends.

Think about it.

Facebook = Flickr = AIM = Twitter = Blogs = Forums = iCal = Email = RSS.

In other words, Facebook = Internet.

It’s great to be on the cutting edge, finding out about Twitter and blogs and vlogs and all sorts of social media tools, as Stephen Jagger discusses with the Vancouver Sun, but if you don’t stop and realize that the critical mass of internet users are just discovering Facebook and all that it can do, you’re missing the biggest piece of the pie.

People want the internet (and computers) to be like a toaster.  They want it to be easy to understand and they want it to “just work.”

That’s the angle Apple is taking with marketing their computers.  They just work. They’re easy. Not complicated.  In other words, Mac = Toaster.

Facebook works the same way.  Once you’re in that world, there is a huge community surrounding you with everything you need.  Why go to Flickr to share photos, when you can get them in your Facebook Feed?  Why go to Twitter to update your status, when the status is right there on Facebook?

Those deeply involved in social media will understand why Flickr is better than Facebook and why Twitter is better than Facebook, but the mass audience doesn’t have the time, energy or desire to seek that information out.

They want things to be easy, they want them to work.

For those in broadcasting, we can’t afford to get niche.  We need to find where the broad spectrum of users live, and hit them there.

For 8.5 Million Canadians, that’s Facebook.

catch the buzz … pass it on.