How the popularity of Facebook seems to follow the level of media coverage

Thanks to our friends at Press Index who sent us through this interesting infographic comparing the popularity of Facebook in Europe with the corresponding levels of media coverage. As you can see, there is an almost perfect correlation. Those statisticians amongst you will recall that correlation, does not mean causation, but we thought this was an interesting trend nonetheless. Whether it's a case of the media leading the public to Facebook, or the media writing about Facebook because the public demand it (ie.: it sells papers/drives website traffic) is a moot point. My guess is that it's the latter. No doubt, back in 2005 or whenever it was, when Facebook came to the UK, the media did play an important role in driving its profile and making sure Facebook mass market as rapidly as it did. [caption id="attachment_856" align="alignleft" width="490" caption="Facebooks Popularity and Media Coverage"][/caption]