Today (February 4), Facebook celebrates its 20th anniversary. From a network for students at a university, Facebook has grown into one of the largest internet platforms in the world today.
Photo: The Standard
According to the Standard newspaper, on February 4, 2004, Mark Zuckerberg launched the page “thefacebook.com” from his dormitory at Harvard University. Two decades later, many internet users struggle to remember a time when they weren’t scrolling through the news feed of Facebook or its social networking cousin Instagram.
Although Facebook allows us to find long-lost friends or relatives, as well as support small businesses, the company’s 20-year history has been filled with controversy, from the Cambridge Analytica scandal and other allegations of election interference to a lack of protections against harmful content.
Below are key moments during the past 20 years of this social network
Born in 2004
Facebook first launched on February 4, 2024 as a social network called TheFacebook. Initially, this social network targeted students at Harvard University and then it gradually expanded to other universities across the United States.
In 2005, the letter “The” was removed from the original name, paving the way for Facebook.com, and in September 2006, the site opened to anyone over 13 years old.
Accusations of stealing ideas
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was accused of plagiarizing other Harvard students Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narendra. These people claimed that Mark Zuckerberg initially intended to help them build a social network called HarvardConnection.
Mark Zuckerberg was sued and by 2008 this problem was settled. The incident was made into the movie The Social Network.
Issuing shares
In May 2012, Facebook listed its shares on the Nasdaq stock exchange. In the initial public offering (IPO), this company issued more than 421 million shares at a price of 38 USD/share, valuing the company at 104 billion USD.
Acquired Instagram
Facebook successfully bought rival social network Instagram in April 2012 for $1 billion, strengthening the presence of this social network.
Instagram has largely remained independent, but some parts of it have been integrated with Facebook, such as the ability to share photos on Facebook as well as Stories.
Acquired WhatsApp
In 2014, Facebook continued its acquisition spree and the WhatsApp messaging application was acquired for $19 billion. Like Instagram, this application remains separate from Facebook, with only some parts able to link to the main social network Facebook.
Reach 1 billion users
In August 2015, Facebook announced that it had reached a new milestone, with one billion users accessing the service in just one day.
Cambridge Analytica scandal
This is one of the biggest controversial cases related to Facebook. Facebook has allowed the company Cambridge Analytica to exploit on a large scale the data of tens of millions of users. Facebook has allowed this political consulting company to exploit names, “like” content and many other data on this social network without users’ consent.
The Cambridge Analytica scandal affected more than 87 million users, starting in 2014.
Hearsay
Like many online platforms, Facebook also has a problem with fake news. This social network has been criticized for spreading false information, with bad actors using Facebook to spread political messages, especially around important elections.
Regain financial strength
In recent years, despite many problems, Facebook has had a new beginning. The company had its strongest financial results in the last 3 months of 2023. Compared to the same period in 2022, revenue increased 25%, net income tripled, advertising sales recovered.