Ah, Facebook—the OG of social media platforms. Whether you love it, hate it, or just keep it to check on family drama, you can’t deny it’s one of the biggest players in the digital world. But when did this whole thing actually kick off? Let’s take it back to the beginning and walk through how Facebook went from a college project to, well… Meta.
The Origin of Facebook
So, Facebook officially launched on February 4, 2004, and yep—it was called “TheFacebook” back then (because apparently, “The” made it cooler?). Mark Zuckerberg and a few of his Harvard buddies—Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes—put it together as a private network for Harvard students. Basically, it was an online version of those awkward printed student directories you used to get on campus.
Fun fact: before Facebook, Zuck made something called Facemash, which was basically a “hot or not” rating site for students at Harvard. Yeah… that one didn’t go over so well, but it definitely sparked the idea that people were into checking each other out online.
What Did Facebook Look Like When It Started?
The first version of TheFacebook was super bare-bones. Nothing fancy—just a profile page where you could upload a photo, add stuff like your major, dorm, and interests, and send friend requests. There was a “Wall” too, where people could post public messages (kinda like early social media graffiti).
No News Feed, no videos and no FarmVille or poking wars yet. Just clean, simple, and kinda nerdy—but it worked.
Who Was the First Person to Post on Facebook?
Yep, it was Mark Zuckerberg himself. He tested everything on his own profile before unleashing it on the rest of Harvard. And it caught on FAST—like, over half of the Harvard undergrads signed up in the first month. Clearly, people were ready for it.
The Development of Facebook (2004)
Once Harvard was hooked, Zuck & Co. started opening it up to other Ivy League schools like Stanford, Columbia, and Yale in early 2004. Pretty soon, it was available to colleges all over the U.S., then high schools, then corporate networks like Apple and Microsoft. It was spreading faster than those chain emails from the early 2000s.
Major Milestones in Facebook’s Growth (2006–2013)
- 2006: Facebook ditched the exclusivity and let anyone 13+ with an email join. Oh, and they rolled out the News Feed—cue the complaints, but also the addiction.
- 2007: Enter third-party apps and games. If you remember FarmVille or got spammed with invites to random quizzes, this was the year it all started.
- 2008: Facebook officially beat out MySpace as the top social network. RIP to your old MySpace Top 8. Also, Facebook Chat made its debut.
- 2009: They introduced the “Like” button. You know, that little thumbs-up that somehow became a universal response to literally everything?
- 2011: Profiles got a facelift with Timeline, turning everyone’s wall into a scrapbook of their life.
- 2012: Facebook went public, making headlines with a huge IPO and hitting a $100 billion valuation. Oh, and they scooped up Instagram for about a billion dollars like it was no big deal.
- 2013: Graph Search showed up, letting users dig through friends’ likes and interests like amateur detectives.
User Growth During This Period: By 2013, Facebook had passed 1.2 billion users. That’s… a lot of friend requests. Celebrate Facebook’s today with some free Facebook likes to boost your posts!
Facebook Today
Flash forward to now (2025), and Facebook is a beast. It’s part of Meta Platforms Inc., which is trying to make the metaverse a thing (whether we’re ready or not). It’s no longer just the app you scroll while pretending to be productive at work—it’s part of a whole ecosystem that includes:
- Facebook (duh)
- Messenger
- Oculus/Meta Quest (VR, metaverse stuff)
They’re sitting at over 3 billion monthly active users, available in just about every language, everywhere. Meta’s got like 77,000+ employees worldwide, and they’ve snagged up a ton of other companies over the years.
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Key Stats About Facebook Today:
- Monthly active users: Over 3 billion
- Meta employees: Around 77,000
- Languages: 100+
- Biggest acquisitions: Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus
Closing Thoughts
From a random Harvard dorm room idea to shaping how people across the globe stay connected (and argue in the comments), Facebook’s been part of the digital DNA for two decades now. Whether you’re still active on it or just keeping it around to snoop on old classmates, there’s no denying its massive impact.
And with Meta diving headfirst into the whole metaverse thing? Who knows what’s next. But you can bet Facebook’s still gonna be part of the conversation. If you’are willing to use Facebook still, learn how to make another Facebook account.
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