WASHINGTON - FACEBOOK announced on Thursday that Donald Graham, chairman and chief executive of The Washington Post Co, is joining the the booming social networking site's board of directors next month.

The privately held Palo Alto, California, company said Mr Graham joins Facebook's 24-year-old founder Mr Mark Zuckerberg, Netscape founder Marc Andreessen, Mr Jim Breyer of Accel Partners and Mr Peter Thiel of Clarium Capital and Founders Fund on the board.

'Don Graham understands how to build and manage an organization for the long term,' Facebook CEO Zuckerberg said in a statement.

'He has made The Washington Post Company one of the most valued and respected education and media companies while making society more open and understanding.'

'His decision to join our board means that Facebook will benefit from this insight and experience,' Mr Zuckerberg said.

Mr Graham in turn praised Mr Zuckerberg's entrepreneurial savvy, saying that his 'sense of what Facebook can do is quite remarkable'.

The social networking site 'has completely transformed how people interact by providing a compelling forum where millions and millions of people can connect and share', he said.

As CEO of the Washington Post, Mr Graham has invested heavily in recent years in remaking the award-winning newspaper for the Internet era.

With circulation dropping and print advertising declining, the Post has put more resources into its website, thewashingtonpost.com, and last month, Mr Graham hired Mr Vijay Ravindran, formerly of Amazon.com, as chief digital officer. -- AFP