Facebook

Extracted Attributes

• Type

  Social media, social networking service

• Owner

  Meta Platforms

• Founded

  2004

• Founders

  Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes

• Headquarters

  Menlo Park, California, United States

• Initial Name

  TheFacebook

• Stock Exchange

  Nasdaq

• Strategic Value

  Open Source

• IPO Ticker Symbol

  FB

• User Age Requirement

  13 years old (or 14 in some countries)

• Ticker Symbol (Dec 2021)

  MVRS

• Most Downloaded Mobile App

  2010s

• Website Ranking (July 2025)

  3rd-most-visited worldwide

• Monthly Active Users (Dec 2023)

  nearly 3.07 billion users

• Traffic from United States (July 2025)

  23%

Timeline

• Facemash, an online service for students to judge attractiveness, was launched at Harvard by Mark Zuckerberg. It was shut down after two days due to policy violation. (Source: britannica)

  2003

• Mark Zuckerberg registered the URL thefacebook.com. (Source: britannica)

  2004-01

• Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes. (Source: summary, wikipedia, britannica, techtarget)

  2004

• The company purchased the domain name facebook.com for $200,000 and changed the site's name from TheFacebook to Facebook. (Source: thoughtco)

  2005

• Facebook announced that anyone aged 13 or older with a valid email address could join. (Source: summary, wikipedia, thoughtco, wikipedia history)

  2006

• Facebook introduced the News Feed feature. (Source: wikipedia history)

  2006

• Facebook launched Facebook Platform, allowing third-party developers to build apps on its infrastructure. (Source: influize)

  2007-05

• Facebook introduced Facebook Pages. (Source: influize)

  2007-11

• Facebook surpassed MySpace in global traffic and became the world's most popular social media platform. (Source: wikipedia history)

  2007

• Facebook surpassed MySpace in user base. (Source: influize)

  2008

• Facebook became the world's most used social networking platform. (Source: thoughtco)

  2009

• Facebook had its Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq stock exchange, valued at $104 billion. (Source: techtarget, influize)

  2012-05-18

• Facebook acquired Instagram for $1 billion. (Source: influize, wikipedia history)

  2012

• Facebook passed 1 billion users. (Source: influize)

  2012

• Facebook launched Graph Search. (Source: influize)

  2013

• Facebook released Facebook Home for Android. (Source: influize)

  2013

• Facebook acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion. (Source: influize, wikipedia history)

  2014

• Facebook acquired Oculus VR for $2 billion. (Source: influize)

  2014

• Facebook introduced Live Video and Reactions. (Source: influize)

  2015

• Facebook launched Instant Articles with publishers. (Source: influize)

  2015

• Facebook was exposed in the U.S. election misinformation controversy and began a crackdown on 'fake news'. (Source: influize)

  2016

• The company rebranded as Meta. (Source: techtarget)

  2021-10-28

• Facebook's stock began trading under the symbol MVRS. (Source: techtarget)

  2021-12-01

• Facebook claimed almost 3.07 billion monthly active users worldwide. (Source: summary, wikipedia)

  2023-12

• Facebook ranked as the third-most-visited website in the world. (Source: summary, wikipedia)

  2025-07

Facebook

Facebook is an American social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes, its name derives from the face book directories often given to American university students. Membership was initially limited to Harvard students, gradually expanding to other North American universities. Since 2006, Facebook allows everyone to register from 13 years old, except in the case of a handful of nations, where the age requirement is 14 years. As of December 2023, Facebook claimed almost 3.07 billion monthly active users worldwide. As of July 2025, Facebook ranked as the third-most-visited website in the world, with 23% of its traffic coming from the United States. It was the most downloaded mobile app of the 2010s. Facebook can be accessed from devices with Internet connectivity, such as personal computers, tablets and smartphones. After registering, users can create a profile revealing personal information about themselves. They can post text, photos and multimedia which are shared with any other users who have agreed to be their friend or, with different privacy settings, publicly. Users can also communicate directly with each other with Messenger, edit messages (within 15 minutes after sending), join common-interest groups, and receive notifications on the activities of their Facebook friends and the pages they follow. Facebook has often been criticized over issues such as user privacy (as with the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal), political manipulation (as with the 2016 U.S. elections) and mass surveillance. The company has also been subject to criticism over its psychological effects such as addiction and low self-esteem, and over content such as fake news, conspiracy theories, copyright infringement, and hate speech. Commentators have accused Facebook of willingly facilitating the spread of such content, as well as exaggerating its number of users to appeal to advertisers.

Web Search Results

• Facebook | Overview, History, Controversies, & Facts - Britannica

  Facebook, American online social media platform and social network service that is part of the company Meta Platforms. Facebook was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes, all of whom were students at Harvard University. Facebook became the largest social network in the world, with nearly three billion users as of 2021, and about half that number were using Facebook every day. The company’s headquarters are in Menlo Park, California. [...] Facebook began at Harvard University in 2003 as Facemash, an online service for students to judge the attractiveness of female Harvard students. Because the primary developer, Zuckerberg, violated university policy in acquiring photographs of students from sorority house websites for the service, it was shut down after two days. Despite its brief tenure, 450 people (who voted 22,000 times) flocked to Facemash. That success prompted Zuckerberg to register the URL in January 2004. He then [...] the social network for marketing and advertising.

• What is Facebook? - TechTarget

  Facebook is more than just a social networking platform; it's also a business. Facebook had its initial public offering on May 18, 2012, on the Nasdaq stock exchange trading under the symbol FB. The company rebranded as Meta on Oct. 28, 2021. As of Dec. 1, 2021, Facebook trades under the symbol MVRS. [...] WhatIs Browse Definitions : A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z # Home Internet technologies Definition # Facebook By Sean Michael Kerner Published: Mar 31, 2025 ## What is Facebook? Facebook is a social networking website that was founded in February 2004 by Harvard University students Chris Hughes, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg. [...] Creating communities. Facebook is used to create and organize communities of interest on just about any topic. It's a platform that can enabled like-minded individuals to come together, share ideas, discuss and organize. Engaging with customers. For businesses, Facebook can help with brand building and customer engagement. Having a Facebook presence enables businesses to share information about products and services to established and potential customers.

• The History of Facebook and How It Was Invented - ThoughtCo

  Facebook was created by Mark Zuckerberg and his friends while they were students at Harvard. Facebook started as a website called TheFacebook, initially meant for Harvard students to connect. By 2009, Facebook became the world's most used social networking platform after expanding to everyone 13 and older. [...] Facebook: The World's Most Popular Social Network In 2004, Napster founder andangel investorSean Parker became the company's president. The company changed the site's name from TheFacebook to just Facebook after purchasing the domain name facebook.com in 2005 for $200,000.1 [...] The following year, venture capital firm Accel Partners invested $12.7 million in Facebook, which enabled the creation of a version of the network for high school students.1 Facebook would later expand to other networks, such as employees of companies. In September 2006, Facebook announced that anyone who was at least 13 years old and had a valid email address could join.By 2009, it had become the world's most used social networking service, according to a report by the analytics site

• History of Facebook - Wikipedia

  2006, which became central to user engagement. By 2007, Facebook surpassed MySpace in global traffic and became the world's most popular social media platform. The company focused on generating revenue through targeted advertising based on user data, a model that drove its rapid financial growth. In 2012, Facebook went public with one of the largest IPOs in tech history. Acquisitions played a significant role in Facebook's dominance. In 2012, it purchased Instagram, followed by WhatsApp and [...] Founded by Mark Zuckerberg and his college roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes( at Harvard University, it was initially limited to Harvard students. It expanded to other colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League,( and gradually most universities in the United States and Canada,( corporations,( and by 2006 to everyone with a valid email address along with an age requirement of being 13 or older.( Facebook introduced key features like the News Feed in [...] A "facebook" is a student directory featuring photos and basic information.( In 2004, there were no universal online facebooks at Harvard, with only paper sheets distributed( and private online directories.( Zuckerberg told the _Crimson_ that "Everyone's been talking a lot about a universal face book within Harvard.... I think it's kind of silly that it would take the University a couple of years to get around to it. I can do it better than they can, and I can do it in a week."( In January

• The History of Facebook (2003-2025) - Influize

  Facebook’s rise as a social media giant Facebook’s growth was explosive. After opening to the public in 2006, it scaled from millions to half a billion users in just six years, and only two more to double that. By 2008, it had surpassed MySpace. And by 2012, it became the world’s largest social network. Four things drove the rise: [...] | 2012 | IPO in May, valued at $104B. Acquires Instagram for $1B. Passes 1 billion users. | | 2013 | Launches Graph Search. Releases Facebook Home for Android. | | 2014 | Acquires WhatsApp for $19B. Buys Oculus VR for $2B. | | 2015 | Introduces Live Video and Reactions. Launches Instant Articles with publishers. | | 2016 | Exposed in U.S. election misinformation controversy. Begins crackdown on “fake news.” | [...] In May 2007, Facebook launched Facebook Platform, which opened its doors to third-party developers. For the first time, outside creators could build apps directly on Facebook’s infrastructure. The result? A wave of viral tools and games that took over user feeds from SuperPoke! to Causes to quiz apps. It turned Facebook into more than a networking site — it became a digital playground. Then in November, Facebook made another major move with the introduction of Facebook Pages.

• Instance Of

  Q838795