Facebook

Lore & Background

The history of Facebook traces its growth from a college networking site to a global social networking service. In 2003, Zuckerberg built a website called 'Facemash' at Harvard, comparable to Hot or Not, using photos from online face books; he faced possible expulsion but charges were dropped. In January 2004, Zuckerberg coded a new site known as 'TheFacebook', stating that the technology needed to create a centralized website was readily available. He met with Harvard student Eduardo Saverin, and each agreed to invest $1,000. On February 4, 2004, Zuckerberg launched 'TheFacebook', initially restricted to Harvard students. Dustin Moskovitz, Andrew McCollum, and Chris Hughes joined to help manage growth. The site became available successively to most universities in the US and Canada. In 2004, Napster co-founder Sean Parker became company president and the company moved to Palo Alto, California. PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel gave Facebook its first investment. In 2005, the company dropped 'the' from its name after purchasing the domain name Facebook.com. In 2006, Facebook opened to everyone at least 13 years old with a valid email address. Facebook introduced key features like the News Feed, which became central to user engagement. By late 2007, Facebook had 100,000 pages on which companies promoted themselves. Facebook surpassed MySpace in global traffic and became the world's most popular social media platform. Microsoft announced it had purchased a 1.6% share of Facebook for $240 million, giving Facebook an implied value of around $15 billion. Facebook focused on generating revenue through targeted advertising based on user data. In 2012, Facebook went public with one of the largest IPOs in tech history. Acquisitions played a significant role: in 2012 it purchased Instagram, followed by WhatsApp and Oculus VR in 2014. The Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal in

Reader's Guide

Facebook's significance lies in its transformation from a college networking site into a global social media platform with over 3 billion monthly active users, fundamentally altering how people communicate, share information, and engage with content. Its introduction of the News Feed and targeted advertising model based on user data drove rapid financial growth and made it a dominant force in digital advertising. However, Facebook has often been criticized over issues such as user privacy (as with the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal), political manipulation (as with the 2016 U.S. elections), and mass surveillance. The company has also been subject to criticism over its psychological effects such as addiction and low self-esteem, and over content such as fake news, conspiracy theories, copyright infringement, and hate speech. Commentators have accused Facebook of willingly facilitating the spread of such content, as well as overemphasizing its number of users to appeal to advertisers. Its legacy is thus dual: it enabled unprecedented global connectivity and community organization, while also raising profound questions about data ethics, misinformation, and the societal impact of social media platforms. The rebranding to Meta in 2021 signaled a strategic pivot toward virtual and augmented reality, though the core Facebook service remains a central fixture of the internet.

Did You Know?

• The name Facebook derives from the face book directories often given to American university students.
• Facebook's primary color is blue because Mark Zuckerberg is red–green colorblind, a realization that occurred after a test taken around 2007.
• In a 2024 interview, Zuckerberg stated that if he were to rebuild Facebook using a different language, he'd use Python.
• Facebook was initially built using PHP, and engineers later created the HipHop Virtual Machine (HHVM) to optimize PHP performance.