More than 6,000 Jackson comments per minute on Facebook

SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook said on Tuesday that its users were at times firing off 6,000 comments per minute as they watched Michael Jackson's memorial online at CNN Live.

"The 6,000 is just for CNN Live," said Facebook marketing directory Randi Zuckerberg. "It is significantly higher than that when you factor in E! Online, ABC, and MTV which each have their own Facebook Connect implementations."

Facebook users worldwide were sharing updates and thoughts while watching free streaming video of the memorial at CNN Live, ABC, and E! Online websites.

The same technology used to stream CNN coverage of US President Barack Obama's inauguration -- Facebook Connect -- allowed people to watch the Jackson memorial in CNN Live video players.

Facebook status updates, essentially brief posted thoughts at given moments, related to the inauguration peaked at 8,000 per minute at the start of Obama's swearing-in ceremony.

Zuckerberg expects the Jackson tally to eclipse that record.

"The most interesting thing is how many people are writing in internationally," Zuckerberg said, referring to Facebook updates from Switzerland, Israel, London, and Barbados posted just seconds earlier.

"The inauguration was certainly a US centered event, and the Jackson memorial seems to have a huge international presence."

Facebook posts during the memorial included a user identified as Elycia Cook Okay Brooke of Japan saying "I am at work in my MJ T-shirt trying to get something done between the tears and popping in and off of CNN."

Another Facebook user theorized that in many parts of the world, "nothing will be getting done right now."