The last 20 years have seen a rapid expansion of social media. Social media was viewed as a fad or trend in its early years. But clearly, it wasn’t. Social platforms keep expanding and have fundamentally altered each of our lives. There is no doubting the strength and appeal of social media, with half the world’s population using them in some capacity.

 

Facebook is the most popular social networking site in the world. Even though most of us are highly aware of the platform, you might be curious as to how Facebook became the global giant it is today. Let’s look back on the past 17 years of Facebook’s development and speculate about what the future may hold.

2003

THE BEGINNING

In his dorm room, Mark Zuckerberg developed a website called “Facemash,” hacking the database of Harvard students to produce a “Hot or Not” game where users may rate other students based on their appearance.

Not many people liked this. But it prompted Zuckerberg to think about its appeal and potential.

2004

EXPANDS ACROSS UNIVERSITIES

Facebook’ was created, and Mark Zuckerberg defined it as a Harvard student online directory where they could discover friends and subsequently the friends of their friends.

 

Initially only open to Harvard students, the platform soon opened to Yale and Stanford students and those attending other American universities.

 

Friends can write messages to one another on a user’s profile page that Facebook has created called “The Wall.”

 

Facebook surpassed 1 million active users in just one year.

2005

EXPANDS TO MORE USERS

High school students can now access Facebook.

 

Introduces a mini-feed, which posts a live broadcast of a user’s activity on the platform.

 

Although he’s unsure how, Mark Zuckerberg acknowledges that advertising is Facebook’s business model.

 

Facebook’s top priority is platform expansion, which it does by adding new features and emphasizing the user experience.

 

2006

INTRODUCING THE NEWS FEED

Anyone over 13 can access Facebook, whether they are in college or high school.

 

News Feed was created so you could view all of your friends’ live activities.

The News Feed, however, was detested at the time. Many people thought it was too similar to Twitter.

 

Remember how you could now poke people awkwardly through the internet?

2008

FACEBOOK GOES WORLDWIDE

A whopping 100 million people use Facebook.

 

With support for languages other than English, Facebook has gone global.

 

Zuckerberg further alludes to the idea that Facebook will make money by enabling users to place advertisements on their network.

2009

FIGHTING OFF THE COMPETITION

Over 200 million people use Facebook.

 

Facebook unveils its renowned “Like” button.

 

Mark Zuckerberg acknowledges that they are aware this would eventually happen when they are asked if a new platform may overtake Facebook. He concentrates on consistently coming up with fresh ideas and developing new applications, working toward a family of apps.

2010

ANOTHER BIG MILESTONE

Facebook reaches more than 500 million people.

 

A full-length movie chronicling Mark Zuckerberg’s creation of Facebook called “The Social Network” releases worldwide.

 

The success of Facebook, according to Zuckerberg, is a result of its emphasis on socializing, asserting that social versions of things always perform better than non-social versions.

2011

INTRODUCING THE FACEBOOK TIMELINE

The Facebook “Timeline” has taken the role of “The Wall,” which displays a user’s updates on Facebook in reverse chronological order.

However, users weren’t too pleased with the abrupt adjustment when embarrassing old images of people started to surface.

2012

ACQUIRES INSTAGRAM

Instagram has 29 million users and is bought by Facebook for $1 billion due to its success and potential. According to Zuckerberg, Instagram is a fantastic program, and he wants to support its expansion.

Facebook reaches 1 billion monthly active users by October.

2013

TRIES TO ACQUIRE SNAPCHAT

Facebook now allows people to search for other users by details such as their location and job.

 

Later that year, Facebook recognizes the popularity of Snapchat and tries to buy it for 3 billion dollars. Snapchat surprisingly refuses.

2014

FOCUS ON NEWS

After studying Twitter’s model, Facebook creates its own trending topics feature, laying the foundation for it to develop into a more prominent news-sharing platform.

 

Most importantly, Zuckerberg asserts that he is still preoccupied with enhancing Facebook’s offerings and user experience rather than how they will increase income.

 

With the purchase of WhatsApp for $19 billion, Facebook saw the potential of instant messaging services.

 

The virtual reality start-up Oculus receives funding from Mark Zuckerberg, who sees it as the wave of the future.

2016

NEW VIDEO FEATURES

Facebook Live is introduced, a service that allows users to create and watch live-stream videos.

 

Facebook encourages publications to produce original video content for the platform to increase the amount of video content available.

 

Facebook Marketplace is introduced as a platform for local community-based buying and selling.

 

Oh, reactions are a thing now!

2017

INVESTING IN AUGMENTED REALITY

The astonishing 2 BILLION monthly users on Facebook!

 

Facebook says they’re embracing augmented reality (AR). Phone cameras could be used for people to engage with friends, family, and companies without the usage of glasses.

2018

FOCUS ON FAMILY AND FRIENDS

Instagram has one billion users, whereas WhatsApp has 1.5 billion.

 

Facebook modified its News Feed feature to emphasize material from friends and relatives. As a result, users are exposed to more posts from their close friends and relatives. severely limiting the reach of businesses and NGOs.

 

Create a “Facebook Watch” section where users can view video material—spending a lot of money on original content production for the site.

 

The risks of false information start to surface as Facebook becomes a platform where news is frequently shared. Some groups can use Facebook’s extensive audience to disseminate false information. Even today, Facebook is still trying to solve this problem.

2019-2022

LARGEST SOCIAL NETWORK PLATFORM IN THE WORLD

Social media is currently used by more than 50% of the world’s population, and 346 million new users have joined in the past year.

 

Facebook is currently the largest social network in the world, with roughly 2.96 billion monthly active members.

 

The platform continues to focus on and promote video content in its quest to become a news platform for users worldwide.

 

Businesses spend billions annually advertising on the site because they believe it to be one of the best channels for reaching consumers.