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Facebook Origins and Timeline

facebook invention and timeline

What is Facebook?

In the present era of online web technology, who does not know about Facebook?  Nearly all do, but many do not know the Facebook origins.

Facebook is no doubt one of the biggest giants of the technology world today. Almost every educated person who is above 13 years of age, has a Facebook account.

It is a universal website that can be signed-up free of cost and allows users to connect to their family, friends, colleagues, fellows, and even with the people, they do not know. Facebook allows its users to share their profile, thoughts, pictures, articles, music, videos, and much more with as many people as they want, or more.

Who invented Facebook?

Facebook was founded by 4 students of Harvard University, Chris Hughes, Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin, and most specifically Mark Zuckerberg. 

Mark Zuckerberg is the CEO and co-founder of Facebook; and the world’s youngest multi-millionaire. He was a second-year computer science student at Harvard University when he invented Facebook along with his classmates. 

When was Facebook invented?

The website Facebook, initially known as TheFacebook was launched on 4th February 2004.

What is the purpose of Facebook?

When Facebook was initially invented, its original purpose was to allow the students of Harvard University to connect. The students could use their photos and email addresses of “.edu” to stay in touch with each other at the university.

Officially, the main aim of Facebook is to make the global village more connected and open; while the latest mission statement of Facebook states that people all over the world use it to stick around their family and friends, to catch up on worldly affairs, and to express and share what matters most to them.

How was Facebook Invented?

It is a wonder how did software invent and became an essential part of everyday life for almost every individual in the world. Its founders had never dreamt of it becoming a global giant and billions of people using it every day.

The mystery behind Facebook:

Initially, Facebook was invented to bring a social connection of Harvard students together using the internet by using the new platform. Mark Zuckerberg in January 2004, started writing code for a website that would substantially become Facebook. He developed an innovative social platform along with his college friends, whose main aim was to connect the students of Harvard via an online association.

After 14 years, the world saw Facebook as one of the leading social networks all over the world, having more than 2.2 billion users.

A thought comes to every mind that how did Facebook that was created in a dorm room of Harvard go from a student thing to a worldwide phenomenon?

So here is the answer to this query.

It all started when Mark Zuckerberg, the founder, and CEO of Facebook started a program “Facemash”, in which students compared photos of their fellows and selecting the hotter one among them. 

Although Mark was punished for developing such a program, that program, the “Facemash” presented a schematic plan for another program that became Facebook.

At that time, online directories called “Face books” already existed at Harvard. These online directories featured the students’ photos alongside some of their information. But, a single “face book” for the entire student body did not exist. Therefore, Mark foresaw an idea to create a platform through which the entire student body could connect and get to know each other, and thus the Facebook origins began!

A BRIEF TIMELINE OF FACEBOOK:

Facebook Origins at the very beginning:

On 4th February 2004, the first version of Facebook came into being as thefacebook.com and was available to the students of Harvard university exclusively. As soon as the site was launched, 1200 Harvard students signed up for Facebook within 24 hours of its launch. 

Six days later, Zuckerberg made TheFacebook go live, but the co-founders faced accusations from 3 seniors of Harvard, that they stole the idea of Facebook from them.

However, within a single month of its launch, half of the undergraduates of Harvard had a Facebook profile. It became so popular and accepted within the students of Harvard university that it was soon made available for three other campuses- Columbia, Stanford, and Yale. 

At the phase of maturity:

By June of 2004, the number of students who had a Facebook profile exceeded 250,000 from almost 34 different schools. In the same year, the Master card and the credit-card companies began to pay for the site exposure. 

September 2004, it was the time when Facebook added a feature “the Facebook wall” to a user’s profile where he/she can post information. By December 2004, the number of active members at Facebook reached one million. 

In 2005, TheFacebook changed its name to “Facebook” simply. Also, the feature of “tagging” was introduced. In the same year, Facebook was made available for students outside the United States, and by the end of the year, the number of monthly active users exceeded 6 million.

It was the year 2006 when Facebook opened up for everyone in the world beyond students. Anyone in the world who is 13 years or more in age could make a Facebook profile. With this advancement, many companies particularly the advertisement industry started using Facebook and got a boost. 

By the year 2008, Facebook became the most visited website on social media.

In the year 2012, Facebook was registered as a public company and its IPO (Initial Public Offering) raised $16 billion which gave the company a $102.4 billion market value.

As the first day of the stock market ended, Mark Zuckerberg held approximately $19 billion.

Presently:

Presently, Facebook has a market value of above $600 billion with an approximate annual revenue of $70.7 billion as of 2019. The number of monthly active users exceeds 2.5 billion and this fact has made Mark Zuckerberg the youngest multi-billionaire of the world.

Facebook Origins:

Facebook which rose up from a dorm room at Harvard University and became an internet giant of the present world, holds a lot more opportunities for everyone in the world. Just like it has connected the world population, and uplifted the global markets, it has much more to do in the future. It has acquired many more companies including Instagram so the interest of its users remains constant, but the question of whether its popularity in the future will increase or not, remains a question mark.

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