Facebook is a 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 limit is 14 years.[6] As of December 2022, Facebook claimed almost 3 billion monthly active users.[7] As of October 2023, Facebook ranked as the third-most-visited website in the world, with 22.56% of its traffic coming from the United States.[8][9] It was the most downloaded mobile app of the 2010s.[10]
This article is about the social media service. For its owner, formerly known as Facebook, Inc., see Meta Platforms.
Type of site
112 languages[1]
February 4, 2004 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US
Worldwide, except blocking countries
Mark Zuckerberg
Required (to do any activity)
2.94 billion monthly active users (as of 31 March 2022)[2]
February 4, 2004
Active
Facebook can be accessed from devices with Internet connectivity, such as personal computers, tablets and smartphones. After registering, users can create a profile revealing 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, join common-interest groups, and receive notifications on the activities of their Facebook friends and the pages they follow.
The subject of numerous controversies, Facebook has often been criticized over issues such as user privacy (as with the Cambridge Analytica data scandal), political manipulation (as with the 2016 U.S. elections) and mass surveillance.[11] Facebook has also been subject to criticism over psychological effects such as addiction and low self-esteem, and various controversies over content such as fake news, conspiracy theories, copyright infringement, and hate speech.[12] Commentators have accused Facebook of willingly facilitating the spread of such content, as well as exaggerating its number of users to appeal to advertisers.[13]
Features
Facebook posts can have an unlimited number of characters. They can also have images and videos.
Users can "friend" users, both sides must agree to being friends. Post can be changed to be seen by everyone (public), friends, people in a certain group (group) or by selected friends (private).
Users can also join groups. Groups are composed of persons with shared interests. For example, they might go to the same sporting club, live in the same suburb, have the same breed of pet or share a hobby. Posts posted in a group can be seen only by those in a group, unless set to public.
Users can also buy, sell or swap things on Facebook Marketplace or in a Buy, Swap and Sell group.
Facebook users can also advertise events on Facebook. Events advertised can be offline, on a website other than Facebook or on Facebook.
Reception
Userbase
Facebook's rapid growth began as soon as it became available and continued through 2018, before beginning to decline.
Facebook passed 100 million registered users in 2008,[328] and 500 million in July 2010.[69] According to the company's data at the July 2010 announcement, half of the site's membership used Facebook daily, for an average of 34 minutes, while 150 million users accessed the site by mobile.[70]
In October 2012, Facebook's monthly active users passed one billion,[96][329] with 600 million mobile users, 219 billion photo uploads, and 140 billion friend connections.[97] The 2 billion user mark was crossed in June 2017.[330][331]
In November 2015, after skepticism about the accuracy of its "monthly active users" measurement, Facebook changed its definition to a logged-in member who visits the Facebook site through the web browser or mobile app, or uses the Facebook Messenger app, in the 30-day period prior to the measurement. This excluded the use of third-party services with Facebook integration, which was previously counted.[332]
From 2017 to 2019, the percentage of the U.S. population over the age of 12 who use Facebook has declined, from 67% to 61% (a decline of some 15 million U.S. users), with a higher drop-off among younger Americans (a decrease in the percentage of U.S. 12- to 34-year-olds who are users from 58% in 2015 to 29% in 2019).[333][334] The decline coincided with an increase in the popularity of Instagram, which is also owned by Meta.[333][334]
The number of daily active users experienced a quarterly decline for the first time in the last quarter of 2021, down to 1.929 billion from 1.930 billion,[335] but increased again the next quarter despite being banned in Russia.[336]
Historically, commentators have offered predictions of Facebook's decline or end, based on causes such as a declining user base;[337] the legal difficulties of being a closed platform, inability to generate revenue, inability to offer user privacy, inability to adapt to mobile platforms, or Facebook ending itself to present a next generation replacement;[338] or Facebook's role in Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.[339]