What Happened On February 4th?
On the night of February 4th in 2004, Mark Zuckerberg pressed publish on a website unlike any other. “TheFacebook” was aimed to solely connect Harvard students, but little did he know, this project would blossom into the social media titan it is today… Built with only $1,000 in seed funding, Facebook would amass over 3.049 billion monthly active users by 2023!
Initially, “TheFacebook” offered a simple set of features –
- Create A Profile
- Add Friends
- Share Updates
Its appeal, however, was undeniable. Within just a month, over 50% of Harvard’s undergraduate population (1200-1500 users) had signed up. By the end of 2004, the first social media platform had reached 21 other universities, boasting over 1 million users.
Recognizing the platform’s potential, Zuckerberg and his team moved operations to California in 2005. They also dropped “The” from the name, officially christening it “Facebook” and opening its doors to every US college that August. With an even larger reach Facebook forward, the amount of users was five times as large by the end of 2005.
Starting in 2006, Facebook welcomed anyone with a valid email address, catapulting the platform onto the global stage. This accessibility, coupled with the introduction of the now-ubiquitous News Feed, fueled explosive growth. By 2007, Facebook expanded to 50 million users, a number that jumped to 500 million by 2010.
Facebook’s anniversary on February 4th is not just about connecting Harvard students. Following the introduction of the Wikipedia in 2001, these two technological inventions transformed how the entire world communicates and shares information to this day.
Nevertheless, Facebook has been met with its share of challenges. Concerns regarding privacy, misinformation, and the platform’s impact on mental health have risen steadily. Thus, users have transitioned over to alternative social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok.
What Did You Learn?
If “TheFacebook” was never invented, how would society, especially within teenagers and Gen Z, be different today?
Would the world be better or worse off?
I personally think that overall anxiety would go down for teenagers.
What about you?
