Facebook Basic History
The relatively new company was started in 2004 by a Harvard undergrad named Mark Zuckerberg (Phillips, 2007). Originally named “The Facebook,” the internet-based social network was meant for Zuckerberg’s fellow Harvard students (Facebook, 2008). Controversy has surrounded the creation of the website as Facebook continues suit with fellow Harvard students Divya Narendra, Cameron Winklevoss, and Tyler Winklevoss, who reportedly hired Zuckerberg for the creation of an online community and ended up creating his own (Phillips, 2007). Despite the suit, the growing popularity took Facebook to other colleges, eventually extending to every student from every college. In 2006 Facebook expanded to allow anyone with a valid e-mail address over 13-yrs-old to join (Facebook, 2008).
Also Found Awesome Facebook Timeline that I adapted for our final project:
Timeline
The brief timeline that follows is as gathered from the Facebook website as a combination of company details and press releases.
2004 – Facebook is launched from Harvard University and is expanded into numerous colleges, reaches 1-million users. The company then moves to Palo Alto, CA.
2005 – Facebook expands through 800 different colleges and starts including high schools which lead it to reach 5.5-million users. Investors like the Accel Partners see the growing phenomenon and provide the Facebook company with its’ first tens of millions.
2006 – Features like Mobile, Notes, updated News and Mini-feed are added to Facebook. Greylock and Meritech Capital partners invest another $27.5 million to the company that has now reached over 12-million users.
2007 – Features like Gifts, and Platform are added to the website. Expansion into Canada and the UK provide Facebook with another 3-million users bringing the total to 50-million users by the end of the year. Microsoft invests $240 million into Facebook and helps to expand its advertising.
2008 – Features like updated privacy controls and chat are added. Facebook launches in German, Spanish, and French. The website reaches over 70-million users world-wide.
