Facebook has a new member -- former US president George W Bush.

Bush joined the fast-growing social network on Wednesday and his profile page, facebook.com/georgewbush, attracted more than 2,000 fans within a few hours.

The first post on the page touted Bush's accomplishments since leaving office in January 2009.

"President Bush has remained active," it said.

"He has visited 20 states and 8 countries; given over 65 speeches; launched the George W Bush Presidential Centre; participated in 4 policy conferences through The Bush Institute; finished the first draft of his memoir, 'Decision Points'; and partnered with (former) President (Bill) Clinton to establish the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund."

The next post touted the memoir written by former first lady Laura Bush, "Spoken from the Heart," noting that it was number one on The New York Times bestseller list for the third consecutive week.

Laura Bush also has a Facebook page and more than 16,500 fans. The messages visible on Bush's page were overwhelmingly positive although a Facebook user named Brent Bender posted "You were an incredibly incompetent president" and others complained that their comments had been deleted.

Most messages were along the lines of this from Matt Thullen: "God bless you, and thank you for your leadership of this great country.