This article is about the social media service. For its owner, formerly known as Facebook, Inc., see Meta Platforms.
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Type of site | Social networking service Publisher |
|---|---|
| Available in | 111 languages[1] |
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| Founded | February 4, 2004 in Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Area served | Worldwide, except blocking countries |
| Founder(s) | Mark Zuckerberg Eduardo Saverin |
| CEO | Mark Zuckerberg |
| Parent | Meta Platforms (formerly known as Facebook, Inc) |
| URL | |
| Registration | Required (to do any activity) |
| Users |  2.85 billion monthly active users (as of 31 March 2021)[2] |
| Launched | February 4, 2004 |
| Current status | Active |
| Written in | C++, Hack (as HHVM), D |
| [3][4][5][6] | |
Facebook is an American online social media and social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes, its name comes from the face book directories often given to American university students. Membership was initially limited to Harvard students, gradually expanding to other North American universities and, since 2006, anyone over 13 years old. As of 2020, Facebook claimed 2.8 billion monthly active users,[2] and ranked seventh in global internet usage.[7] It was the most downloaded mobile app of the 2010s.
Facebook can be accessed from devices with Internet connectivity, such as personal computers, tablets and smartphones. After registering, users can create a profile revealing information about themselves. They can post text, photos and multimedia which are shared with any other users who have agreed to be their "friend" or, with different privacy settings, publicly. Users can also communicate directly with each other with Facebook Messenger, join common-interest groups, and receive notifications on the activities of their Facebook friends and the pages they follow.
The subject of numerous controversies, Facebook has often been criticized over issues such as user privacy (as with the Cambridge Analytica data scandal), political manipulation (as with the 2016 U.S. elections), mass surveillance,psychological effects such as addiction and low self-esteem, and 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 exaggerating its number of users to appeal to advertisers.
History
Zuckerberg built a website called "Facemash" in 2003 while attending Harvard University. The site was comparable to Hot or Not and used "photos compiled from the online face books of nine Houses, placing two next to each other at a time and asking users to choose the "hotter" person".[17] Facemash attracted 450 visitors and 22,000 photo-views in its first four hours.[18] The site was sent to several campus group listservs, but was shut down a few days later by Harvard administration. Zuckerberg faced expulsion and was charged with breaching security, violating copyrights and violating individual privacy. Ultimately, the charges were dropped.[17] Zuckerberg expanded on this project that semester by creating a social study tool ahead of an art history final exam. He uploaded art images, each accompanied by a comments section, to a website he shared with his classmates.
A "face book" is a student directory featuring photos and personal information.[18] In 2003, Harvard had only a paper versionalong with private online directories.[17][21] Zuckerberg told The Harvard Crimson, "Everyone's been talking a lot about a universal face book within Harvard. ... I think it's kind of silly that it would take the University a couple of years to get around to it. I can do it better than they can, and I can do it in a week."[21] In January 2004, Zuckerberg coded a new website, known as "TheFacebook", inspired by a Crimson editorial about Facemash, stating, "It is clear that the technology needed to create a centralized Website is readily available ... the benefits are many." Zuckerberg met with Harvard student Eduardo Saverin, and each of them agreed to invest $1,000 in the site.On February 4, 2004, Zuckerberg launched "TheFacebook", originally located at thefacebook.com.
Six days after the site launched, Harvard seniors Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss, and Divya Narendra accused Zuckerberg of intentionally misleading them into believing that he would help them build a social network called HarvardConnection.com. They claimed that he was instead using their ideas to build a competing product.The three complained to the Crimson and the newspaper began an investigation. They later sued Zuckerberg, settling in 2008for 1.2 million shares (worth $300 million at Facebook's IPO).
Membership was initially restricted to students of Harvard College. Within a month, more than half the undergraduates had registered.Dustin Moskovitz, Andrew McCollum, and Chris Hughes joined Zuckerberg to help manage the growth of the website.[28] In March 2004, Facebook expanded to Columbia, Stanford and Yale. It then became available to all Ivy League colleges, Boston University, NYU, MIT, and successively most universities in the United States and Canada.
In mid-2004, Napster co-founder and entrepreneur Sean Parker—an informal advisor to Zuckerberg—became company president.In June 2004, the company moved to Palo Alto, California.It received its first investment later that month from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.[34] In 2005, the company dropped "the" from its name after purchasing the domain name Facebook.com for US$200,000.The domain had belonged to AboutFace Corporation.
In May 2005, Accel Partners invested $12.7 million in Facebook, and Jim Breyer added $1 million of his own money. A high-school version of the site launched in September 2005. Eligibility expanded to include employees of several companies, including Apple Inc. and Microsoft.
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