As Facebook celebrates its tenth birthday, we take a look at the revolutionary social network from its university roots to the multi-billion dollar company it is today.
The blue screens and ‘Like’ buttons have become a familiar sight for consumers and companies. It’s been 10 years since the inception of Facebook, a disruptive innovation that changed the way that consumers network with each other, and businesses interact with their customers.
While the teams at Facebook HQ will no doubt be sipping champagne, we raised our cups of tea in celebration of the network’s success, and took a look at how Facebook has changed our industry.
From what was at first unchartered territory, the network has grown to mammoth global proportions with over 1.19 billion monthly active users, 874 million mobile users, and 728 million daily users.
For us, as well as many of our clients, Facebook means a lot of data. The way that businesses use Facebook for marketing and PR changes on a daily basis – the ongoing advances are constant, and as a PR and strategic communications consultancy it is our job to stay abreast with these changes.
The next challenge? For companies to understand the swathes of data at their fingertips and use it to their advantage.
While the next 10 years will no doubt see Facebook pivot and redefine itself, we have summarised our top 10 moments of Facebook’s history:
- January 2013 – Launch of Facebook Graph search, changing the way people interact with the platform
- February 2012 – Facebook files first Initial Public Offering (IPO) and the world’s media eyes are all on the brand
- September 2011 – Facebook timeline is introduced, creating a stir over the new layout
- August 2010 – Facebook Place launched, users can share their location in real-time
- February 2009 – Facebook introduces the infamous ‘Like’ button
- November 2007 – Facebook Pages and Self-service Ads Platform launched
- September 2006 – Facebook newsfeed launched
- August 2005 – ‘thefacebook’ becomes what we know as Facebook, with the domain was purchased for $200,000
- December 2004 – With only 10 months under the belt, ‘thefacebook’ hits the 1 million user mark
- February 2004 – The story begins with four men and one idea
We look forward to seeing what the world’s favourite social network decides to do next…