16 Years of Facebook: From The Dorms To Internet Dominance

2009

• February 9: The Legendary Like Button

The famous ‘Like’ button was introduced.

• August 10: Let’s Be Friends!

FriendFeed is another online social sharing website. They are the pioneers to real-time updates and the Like feature. By now, Facebook was already making use of many of FriendFeed’s features. When they finally decided to fully acquire the company, they were able to get access to their skilled developers and intelligence.

2010

• October 1: Facebook Goes to Hollywood

“The Social Network” movie, directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, hits the US theatres and becomes No. 1. The movie depicts a clear picture of Facebook’s creation and the fascination towards social media that Americans possess. Eventually, The Social Network brought in $225 million from all across the globe.

Read More: Facebook Launches New Corporate Logo

• December 18: Arab Spring

Arab Spring is the perfect example of how powerful and influential Facebook is as a social media network. Once protests broke out all across Tunisia, thus the emergence of Arab Spring, spread like wildfire to bordering countries within a few weeks. One of the catalysts for this revolution in the Middle Eastern countries was said to be Facebook itself.

2011

• September 22: Goodbye Wall, Hello Timeline

At the F8 Developer Conference, Mark Zuckerberg introduced the Facebook Timeline with the intention of replacing the dear old Wall. Aptly named, the Timeline displays a user’s posts and updates chronologically. As expected, this change in format was not welcomed with open arms by everyone.

2012

• April 9: Another Big Move

Facebook decides to acquire the photo-sharing service, Instagram, for $1 billion. A very important investment, this strategy would soon prove to be a great defense for Facebook. The online photo-sharing platform would help defend Facebook from Snapchat’s growing market.

• May 18: Going Public

Facebook becomes the largest technology IPO after it raises $16 billion in a public offering on the NASDAQ.

• May 19: Wedding Bells

Mark Zuckerberg gets married to his longtime girlfriend, Priscilla Chan.

• September 4: A Bad Day at the Stock Market

Facebook witnessed a massive decline in its stock, going as low as $18.

• October 4: Broader Audience, Happier Investors

The company has attained over 1 billion active users monthly which means 1/7^th of the world population is now connected through Facebook. Not only does this massive increase in users lead the social media network that much closer to dominating the internet, but it also catches the investor’s attention.

2013

• January 15: Graph Search – A privacy warning

When the Graph Search was introduced, a feature that allows users to gather information about those in their network, users are once again made aware of their privacy or lack thereof. This new feature pulls up various information, such as location, job status, likes, and hobbies, with just a single search. Effectively proving the power and interconnectivity that Facebook as a social media platform holds.

• March 11: Lean In

Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg releases, hitting the NYT bestsellers list.

• April 4: Facebook Phone

Facebook’s partnership with HTC to create the “Facebook Phone” was a huge flop. Within a month, the price dropped to $0.99 from $99.00.

• July 31: Happier Investors

After a year of its NASDAQ debut, Facebook goes back to its IPO price.

• November 13: Refusal

Snapchat was offered $3 billion by Facebook for an acquisition but the CEO, Evan Spiegel, refused.

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