Data released today from Compete.com supports what will not be a surprise to most. Facebook is the most visited social network, with nearly 1.2 billion visits in January 2009. This also represents significant growth, with visits to Facebook up 36% on December, and 256% over the previous twelve months.

Facebooks continued growth is certainly impressive, and their success in 2008 is probably due, at least in part, to their continued innovation during the year. They made some significant changes to the user-interface and continue to roll-out significant changes on a fairly regular basis (such as the recent introduction of the ?I like this? feature). Innovation is important. As more users join the social network their needs will change and the way they want to use the site will change. With a 256% increase in visits over the last 12 months, there is no doubt that the use people want from Facebook is changing and constant innovation helps them to react and respond to this.