Facebook is the largest social media platform in the world with 2.6 billion monthly active users as of the first quarter of 2020. It’s hard to believe that Facebook was only founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg while he was still a student at Harvard University. In the intervening years, Facebook has undergone tremendous growth and changes, evolving from a simple website where college students could connect with each other to the global behemoth it is today. Let’s take a look at how Facebook came to be and how it came to dominate the social media landscape.
How Facebook Began
As aforementioned, Facebook was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg while he was studying computer science at Harvard University. The original purpose of the site was to connect students with each other so that they could easily find contact information and photos of people within the university. The site quickly gained popularity and by 2006, it had expanded beyond Harvard to include other colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. In September of that same year, Facebook was open to anyone over the age of 13 with a valid email address. The following year was a big one for Facebook. In 2007, the company introduced its now-iconic newsfeed feature which allows users to see updates from their friends in real-time. This was followed by the launch of Facebook Pages which allowed businesses and organizations to create their own presence on the site. 2008 saw another major expansion when Facebook opened up membership to anyone in the world with a valid email address regardless of age. In 2009, Facebook hit another milestone when it surpassed MySpace to become the most popular social networking site in the United States. That same year, it also launched several features that are now commonplace on the site such as status updates, photo tagging, and event invitations. 2010 was another big year for Facebook with the introduction of its Like button as well as its Instant Personalization feature which allowed third-party websites such as Yelp and Pandora to access users’ data on Facebook. 2011 saw yet another expansion with the launch of its Timeline feature which allows users to see a chronological history of their posts on Facebook. The following year, Facebook went public on May 18, 2012, at an initial price of $38 per share. Since then, its stock price has fluctuated but remains above its IPO price today. In 2014, Facebook acquired messaging app WhatsApp for $19 billion and virtual reality headset maker Oculus VR for $2 billion. More recently, in 2019, Zuckerberg announced that his company would rebrand as “FACEBOOK” in all caps to emphasize that it is not just a website but rather a platform for multiple different products and services including Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Oculus VR. This move signals Zuckerberg’s intention for Facebook to become even more dominant in the tech industry in the years to come. Only time will tell if he will succeed but if history is any indication, it seems likely that he will.List of Helpful Resources on Facebook
Facebook – log in or sign up
Create an account or log into Facebook. Connect with friends, family, and other people you know. Share photos and videos, send messages, and get updates.Facebook – Apps on Google Play
Keeping up with friends is faster and easier than ever. Share updates and photos, engage with friends and Pages, and stay connected to communities important.Facebook on the App Store
Communicate privately, watch your favorite content, buy and sell items or just spend time with your community. On Facebook, keeping up.Meta Careers | Do the Most Meaningful Work of Your Career
Facebook · Messenger · Instagram · WhatsApp · Meta Quest · Workplace · Meta PortalFacebook – Wikipedia
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by the American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow.Facebook Community Standards | Transparency Center
Meta recognizes how important it is for Facebook to be a place where people feel empowered to communicate, and we take our role seriously in keeping abuse off.Press Releases – Meta Investor Relations – Facebook
Peter Thiel to Retire from Meta Board of Directors at 2022 Annual Shareholder Meeting. February 2, 2022Meta Reports Fourth Quarter and Full.Facebook – LinkedIn
Facebook | 151021 followers on LinkedIn. The Facebook company is now Meta. Meta builds technologies that help people connect, find communities, and grow.Facebook News, Trends, Reviews, & More | Mashable
Ah, Facebook. Everyone’s heard of Facebook! Founded in 2004 by then-Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg as a way to rank fellow college students.Facebook (@facebook) • Instagram photos and videos
4.4m Followers, 26 Following, 1078 Posts – See Instagram photos and videos from Facebook (@facebook) This is a complete list of sources that I found to be helpful in researching Facebook. If there are any other sites or articles you think should make this list, please leave them as comments below so we can include them!Conclusion
Facebook is currently the largest social media platform in the world with 2.6 billion monthly active users as of 2020. It has come a long way since its humble beginnings as a website for college students to connect with each other back in 2004. Thanks to its continuous innovation and expansion, Facebook has managed to stay ahead of its competitors and dominate the social media landscape. It will be interesting to see what changes Facebook makes in the coming years as it continues to grow and evolve.
