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Monday 30 September 2013

ALL the faces of Facebook in one place: Now you can explore the profile pictures of its 1.15 billion members on a single page (and find out if your friends joined before you)

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It may just look like a webpage of television static, but the picture below is in fact the profile pictures of every single Facebook member from across the world, in one place. All 1.15 billion of them. 
The Faces of Facebook online app has scanned the public profile images of each member, which equates to one seventh of the Earth's population, and its makers claim that if you were to browse all of them individually it would take 36 years, 5 months, 9 days, 6 hours, 46 minutes and 16 seconds.
Each face has been added to the site in chronological order, based on the date in which they joined the site, and if a user connects their account to the app, it will tell them their Face Number. 

This number can be posted on a person's Facebook wall, and users can also search for their friends' faces to see whether they joined the site before or after them. 
To connect a Facebook account, users should click the location pin in the top right-hand corner of the app. 
Faces of Facebook was designed by creative technologist Natalia Rojas from Miami. 
Rojas said: 'This is an infinite and collaborative project that organizes all of our profile pictures, one next to the other, in chronological order: from Zuckerberg’s to the very last person who signed up just a moment ago.
 
'Because there we are, all mixed up: large families, women wearing burkas, many Leo Messis, people supporting same-sex marriages or r4bia, Chihuahuas, Indian Gods, tourists pushing the leaning Tower of Pisa, selfies, newborns, Ferraris, studio black and white portraits, a lot of weddings but zero divorces, ID photos, faces framed in hearts, best friends, manga characters, politic logos, deep looks, love messages, eyes, memes, smiles, sweet grandparents and some not-yet-censured pictures.'
The only photos shown on the site are the images people have set as their profile pictures - this means that no other images are accessible from the site

The Faces of Facebook online app has scanned the public profile images of each member.
The Faces of Facebook online app has scanned the public profile images of each member. Its makers claim if someone was to browse all of them individually it would take 36 years, 5 months, 9 days, 6 hours, 46 minutes and 16 seconds. Each face has been added to the site in chronological order, based on the date in which they joined the site, and hovering over a thumbnail shows that individual's number and name

All profile pictures and cover images are set to public, by default, on Facebook, despite an individuals privacy settings and are done so to make people easier to find. 
Rojas used computer code to collect and organise all the images: 'We are not breaking any Facebook privacy rules because we don’t store anyone’s private information, pictures or names. 
'We’ve just found a harmless way to organize and show our public data, which is not even considered in the security policies,' continued Rojas. 
As each new member joins their picture is added automatically and the amount of new users can be seen by the ever increasing number on the app's homepage.
As Rojas explained: 'It is infinite because this network won’t stop growing, and collaborative because every person who accesses this website will help to fill it. 
'If you connect via Facebook you will be able to see which FACE# you are, where in the gallery your friends are and which of them was the first to join Facebook.'
This is what the full collection of Facebook pictures looks like when zoomed out.
This is what the full collection of Facebook pictures looks like when zoomed out. If a user connects their account to the app, it will tell them their Face Number. This number can be posted on their Facebook wall, and users can also search for their friends' faces to see whether they joined the site before or after them. To connect a Facebook account, users should click the location pin in the top right-hand corner of the app, pictured

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