Facebook dethrones MySpace

Facebook Inc., after eclipsing MySpace in global users last year, now leads its social-networking rival in the U.S. as well, according to research firm ComScore Inc.

The Palo Alto, Calif., company had 70.28 million U.S. users last month, topping MySpace’s 70.26 million, ComScore said. Facebook’s users almost doubled from a year earlier, while MySpace lost 5%.

Facebook, which became the top global social-networking site a year ago, had 307.1 million users worldwide in April, the Reston, Va., research firm said.

MySpace, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s New York-based News Corp., ranked second with 126.9 million.

Facebook has grown by reaching out beyond its original base of college students, attracting people of all ages and backgrounds, such as retirees and young parents.

Twitter Inc., based in San Francisco, was the third-biggest U.S. social-networking site. It had 17.6 million users, an increase of more than 2,700% from the year-earlier period.

In total, U.S. social-networking users increased 12% in May, while overall Internet users grew by 2%, according to ComScore.