Facebook
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This article is about the social media website. For the company, see Facebook, Inc. For the type of directory, see Face book.
Facebook
Facebook f logo (2019).svg
Facebook Logo (2019).svg
Screenshot
Type of site Social networking service
Publisher
Available in 111 languages[1]
List of languages
Area served Worldwide, except blocking countries
Parent Facebook, Inc.
URL www.facebook.com
Registration Required to do any activity
Users Increase 2.8 billion monthly active users (as of 31 December 2020)[2]
Launched February 4, 2004; 17 years ago
Current status Active
Written in C++, Hack (as HHVM), D
[3][4][5][6]
Facebook (stylized as facebook) is an American online social media and social networking service based in Menlo Park, California, and a flagship service of the namesake company Facebook, Inc. It was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, along with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes.
The founders of Facebook initially limited membership to Harvard students. Membership was expanded to Columbia, Stanford, and Yale before being expanded to the rest of the Ivy League, MIT, NYU, Boston University, then various other universities in the United States and Canada, and lastly high school students. Since 2006, anyone who claims to be at least 13 years old has been allowed to become a registered user of Facebook, though this may vary depending on local laws. The name comes from the face book directories often given to American university students.
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 is shared with any other users that have agreed to be their "friend", or, with a different privacy setting, with any reader. Users can also use various embedded apps, join common-interest groups, buy and sell items or services on Marketplace, and receive notifications of their Facebook friends' activities and activities of Facebook pages they follow. Facebook said that it had 2.8 billion monthly active users as of December 2020,[2] and Facebook was the most downloaded mobile app of the 2010s globally.[7]
Facebook has been the subject of numerous controversies, often involving user privacy (as with the Cambridge Analytica data scandal), political manipulation (as with the 2016 U.S. elections), mass surveillance,[8] psychological effects such as addiction and low self-esteem, and content such as fake news, conspiracy theories, copyright infringement, and hate speech.[9] Commentators have accused Facebook of willingly facilitating the spread of such content and also exaggerating its number of users in order to appeal to advertisers.[10][11][12][13][14] As of January 21, 2021, Alexa Internet ranks Facebook seventh in global internet usage.[15]
Contents
1 History
1.1 2003–2006: Thefacebook, Thiel investment, and name change
1.2 2006–2012: Public access, Microsoft alliance, and rapid growth
1.3 2012–2013: IPO, lawsuits, and one-billionth user
1.4 2013–2014: Site developments, A4AI, and 10th anniversary
1.5 2015–2020: Improvement; fake news
1.6 2020–present: FTC lawsuit
2 Website
2.1 Technical aspects
2.2 History
2.3 User profile/personal timeline
2.4 News Feed
2.5 Like button
2.6 Instant messaging
2.7 Following
2.8 Privacy controls
2.9 Facebook Bug Bounty Program
3 Reception
3.1 User growth and decline
3.2 Demographics
3.3 Awards
3.4 Censorship
4 Criticisms and controversies
4.1 Privacy
4.2 Content
4.3 Political manipulation
4.4 Company governance
4.5 Litigation
4.6 Definers Public Affairs
4.7 Transcribing user audio
5 Impact
5.1 Scope
5.2 Economy
5.3 Society
5.4 Emotional health
5.5 Politics
5.6 Culture
5.7 Internet.org
5.8 Environment
6 See also
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links
History
Further information: History of Facebook
2003–2006: Thefacebook, Thiel investment, and name change
Original layout and name of Thefacebook in 2004, showing singer Peter Wolf's face superimposed with binary numbers as Facebook's original logo, designed by co-founder Andrew McCollum[16]
Zuckerberg built a website called "Facemash" in 2003 while attending Harvard University. The site was comparable to Hot or Not and used "photos compiled from the online face books of nine Houses, placing two next to each other at a time and asking users to choose the "hotter" person".[17] Facemash attracted 450 visitors and 22,000 photo-views in its first four hours.[18] The site was sent to several campus group listservs, but was shut down a few days later by Harvard administration. Zuckerberg faced expulsion and was charged with breaching security, violating copyrights and violating individual privacy. Ultimately, the charges were dropped.[17] Zuckerberg expanded on this project that semester by creating a social study tool ahead of an art history final exam. He uploaded all art images to a website, each of which was accompanied by a comments section, then shared the site with his classmates.[19]
A "face book" is a student directory featuring photos and personal information.[18] In 2003, Harvard had only a paper version[20] along with private online directories.[17][21] Zuckerberg told The Harvard Crimson, "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."[21] In January 2004, Zuckerberg coded a new website, known as "TheFacebook", inspired by a Crimson editorial about Facemash, stating, "It is clear that the technology needed to create a centralized Website is readily available ... the benefits are many." Zuckerberg met with Harvard student Eduardo Saverin, and each of them agreed to invest $1,000 in the site.[22] On February 4, 2004, Zuckerberg launched "TheFacebook", originally located at thefacebook.com.[23]
Mark Zuckerberg, co-creator of Facebook, in his Harvard dorm room, 2005
Six days after the site launched, Harvard seniors Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss, and Divya Narendra accused Zuckerberg of intentionally misleading them into believing that he would help them build a social network called HarvardConnection.com. They claimed that he was instead using their ideas to build a competing product.[24] The three complained to the Crimson and the newspaper began an investigation. They later sued Zuckerberg, settling in 2008[25] for 1.2 million shares (worth $300 million at Facebook's IPO).[26]
Membership was initially restricted to students of Harvard College. Within a month, more than half the undergraduates had registered.[27] Dustin Moskovitz, Andrew McCollum, and Chris Hughes joined Zuckerberg to help manage the growth of the website.[28] In March 2004, Facebook expanded to Columbia, Stanford and Yale.[29] It then became available to all Ivy League colleges, Boston University, NYU, MIT, and successively most universities in the United States and Canada.[30][31]
In mid-2004, Napster co-founder and entrepreneur Sean Parker—an informal advisor to Zuckerberg—became company president.[32] In June 2004, the company moved to Palo Alto, California.[33] It received its first investment later that month from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.[34] In 2005, the company dropped "the" from its name after purchasing the domain name Facebook.com for US$200,000.[35] The domain had belonged to AboutFace Corporation.
In May 2005, Accel Partners invested $12.7 million in Facebook, and Jim Breyer[36] added $1 million of his own money. A high-school version of the site launched in September 2005.[37] Eligibility expanded to include employees of several companies, including Apple Inc. and Microsoft.[38]
2006–2012: Public access, Microsoft alliance, and rapid growth
In May 2006, Facebook hired its first intern, Julie Zhuo.[39] After a month, Zhuo was hired as a full-time engineer.[39] On September 26, 2006, Facebook opened to everyone at least 13 years old with a valid email address.[40][41][42] By late 2007, Facebook had 100,000 pages on which companies promoted themselves.[43] Organization pages began rolling out in May 2009.[44] On October 24, 2007, Microsoft announced that it had purchased a 1.6% share of Facebook for $240 million, giving Facebook a total implied value of around $15 billion. Microsoft's purchase included rights to place international advertisements.[45][46]
In May 2007, at the first f8 developers conference, Facebook announced the launch of the Facebook Developer Platform, providing a framework for software developers to create applications that interact with core Facebook features. By the second annual f8 developers conference on July 23, 2008, the number of applications on the platform had grown to 33,000, and the number of registered developers had exceeded 400,000.[47]
In October 2008, Facebook announced that its international headquarters would locate in Dublin, Ireland.[48] In September 2009, Facebook said that it had achieved positive cash flow for the first time.[49] A January 2009 Compete.com study ranked Facebook the most used social networking service by worldwide monthly active users.[50]
The company announced 500 million users in July 2010.[51] Half of the site's membership used Facebook daily, for an average of 34 minutes, while 150 million users accessed the site from mobile devices. A company representative called the milestone a "quiet revolution."[52] In November 2010, based on SecondMarket Inc. (an exchange for privately held companies' shares), Facebook's value was $41 billion. The company had slightly surpassed eBay to become the third largest American web company after Google and Amazon.com.[53][54]
On November 15, 2010, Facebook announced it had acquired the domain name fb.com from the American Farm Bureau Federation for an undisclosed amount. On January 11, 2011, the Farm Bureau disclosed $8.5 million in "domain sales income", making the acquisition of FB.com one of the ten highest domain sales in history.[55]
In February 2011, Facebook announced plans to move its headquarters to the former Sun Microsystems campus in Menlo Park, California.[56][57] In March 2011, it was reported that Facebook was removing about 20,000 profiles daily for violations such as spam, graphic content and underage use, as part of its efforts to boost cyber security.[58] Statistics showed that Facebook reached one trillion page views in the month of June 2011, making it the most visited website tracked by DoubleClick.[59][60] According to a Nielsen study, Facebook had in 2011 become the second-most accessed website in the U.S. behind Google.[61][62]
China blocked Facebook in 2009.[63]
2012–2013: IPO, lawsuits, and one-billionth user
Further information: Initial public offering of Facebook
In March 2012, Facebook announced App Center, a store selling applications that operate via the website. The store was to be available on iPhones, Android devices, and for mobile web users.[64]
Billboard on the Thomson Reuters building welcomes Facebook to NASDAQ, May 2012
Facebook's initial public offering came on May 17, 2012, at a share price of US$38. The company was valued at $104 billion, the largest valuation to that date.[65][66][67] The IPO raised $16 billion, the third-largest in U.S. history, after Visa Inc. in 2008 and AT&T Wireless in 2000.[68][69] Based on its 2012 income of $5 billion, Facebook joined the Fortune 500 list for the first time in May 2013, ranked 462.[70] The shares set a first day record for trading volume of an IPO (460 million shares).[71] The IPO was controversial given the immediate price declines that followed,[72][73][74][75] and was the subject of lawsuits,[76] while SEC and FINRA both launched investigations.[77]
Zuckerberg announced at the start of October 2012 that Facebook had one billion monthly active users,[78] including 600 million mobile users, 219 billion photo uploads and 140 billion friend connections.[79]
2013–2014: Site developments, A4AI, and 10th anniversary
On January 15, 2013, Facebook announced Facebook Graph Search, which provides users with a "precise answer", rather than a link to an answer by leveraging data present on its site.[80] Facebook emphasized that the feature would be "privacy-aware", returning results only from content already shared with the user.[81] On April 3, 2013, Facebook unveiled Facebook Home, a user-interface layer for Android devices offering greater integration with the site. HTC announced HTC First, a phone with Home pre-loaded.[82]
On April 15, 2013, Facebook announced an alliance across 19 states with the National Association of Attorneys General, to provide teenagers and parents with information on tools to manage social networking profiles.[83] On April 19 Facebook modified its logo to remove the faint blue line at the bottom of the "F" icon. The letter F moved closer to the edge of the box.[84]
Following a campaign by 100 advocacy groups, Facebook agreed to update its policy on hate speech. The campaign highlighted content promoting domestic violence and sexual violence against women and led 15 advertisers to withdraw, including Nissan UK, House of Burlesque, and Nationwide UK. The company initially stated, "while it may be vulgar and offensive, distasteful content on its own does not violate our policies".[85] It took action on May 29.[86]
On June 12, Facebook announced that it was introducing clickable hashtags to help users follow trending discussions, or search what others are talking about on a topic.[87] San Mateo County, California, became the top wage-earning county in the country after the fourth quarter of 2012 because of Facebook. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the average salary was 107% higher than the previous year, at $168,000 a year, more than 50% higher than the next-highest county, New York County (better known as Manhattan), at roughly $110,000 a year.[88]
Facebook joined Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) in October, as it launched. The A4AI is a coalition of public and private organizations that includes Google, Intel and Microsoft. Led by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the A4AI seeks to make Internet access more affordable to ease access in the developing world.[89]
The company celebrated its 10th anniversary during the week of February 3, 2014.[90] In January 2014, over one billion users connected via a mobile device.[91] As of June, mobile accounted for 62% of advertising revenue, an increase of 21% from the previous year.[92] By September Facebook's market capitalization had exceeded $200 billion.[93][94][95]
Zuckerberg participated in a Q&A session at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, on October 23, where he attempted to converse in Mandarin. Zuckerberg hosted visiting Chinese politician Lu Wei, known as the "Internet czar" for his influence in China's online policy, on December 8.[citation needed]
2015–2020: Improvement; fake news
As of 2015, Facebook's algorithm was revised in an attempt to filter out false or misleading content, such as fake news stories and hoaxes. It relied on users who flag a story accordingly. Facebook maintained that satirical content should not be intercepted.[96] The algorithm was accused of maintaining a "filter bubble", where material the user disagrees with[97] and posts with few likes would be deprioritized.[98] In November, Facebook extended paternity leave from 4 weeks to 4 months.[99]
On April 12, 2016, Zuckerberg outlined his 10-year vision, which rested on three main pillars: artificial intelligence, increased global connectivity, and virtual and augmented reality.[100] In July, a US$1 billion suit was filed against the company alleging that it permitted Hamas to use it to perform assaults that cost the lives of four people.[101] Facebook released its blueprints of Surround 360 camera on GitHub under an open-source license.[102] In September, it won an Emmy for its animated short "Henry".[103] In October, Facebook announced a fee-based communications tool called Workplace that aims to "connect everyone" at work. Users can create profiles, see updates from co-workers on their news feed, stream live videos and participate in secure group chats.[104]
Following the 2016 presidential election, Facebook announced that it would combat fake news by using fact checkers from sites like FactCheck.org and Associated Press (AP), making reporting hoaxes easier through crowdsourcing, and disrupting financial incentives for abusers.[105]
Oculus VR headset[106]
On January 17, 2017, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg planned to open Station F, a startup incubator campus in Paris, France.[107] On a six-month cycle, Facebook committed to work with ten to 15 data-driven startups there.[108] On April 18, Facebook announced the beta launch of Facebook Spaces at its annual F8 developer conference.[109] Facebook Spaces is a virtual reality version of Facebook for Oculus VR goggles. In a virtual and shared space, users can access a curated selection of 360-degree photos and videos using their avatar, with the support of the controller. Users can access their own photos and videos, along with media shared on their newsfeed.[110] In September, Facebook announced it would spend up to US$1 billion on original shows for its Facebook Watch platform.[111] On October 16, it acquired the anonymous compliment app tbh, announcing its intention to leave the app independent.[112][113][114][115]
In May 2018 at F8, the company announced it would offer its own dating service. Shares in competitor Match Group fell by 22%.[116] Facebook Dating includes privacy features and friends are unable to view their friends' dating profile.[117] In July, Facebook was charged £500,000 by UK watchdogs for failing to respond to data erasure requests.[118] On July 18, Facebook established a subsidiary named Lianshu Science & Technology in Hangzhou City, China, with $30 million of capital. All its shares are held by Facebook Hong.[119] Approval of the registration of the subsidiary was then withdrawn, due to a disagreement between officials in Zhejiang province and the Cyberspace Administration of China.[120] On July 26, Facebook became the first company to lose over $100 billion worth of market capitalization in one day, dropping from nearly $630 billion to $510 billion after disappointing sales reports.[121][122] On July 31, Facebook said that the company had deleted 17 accounts related to the 2018 U.S. midterm elections. On September 19, Facebook announced that, for news distribution outside the United States, it would work with U.S. funded democracy promotion organizations, International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute, which are loosely affiliated with the Republican and Democratic parties.[123] Through the Digital Forensic Research Lab Facebook partners with the Atlantic Council, a NATO-affiliated think tank.[123] In November, Facebook launched smart displays branded Portal and Portal Plus (Portal+). They support Amazon's Alexa (intelligent personal assistant service). The devices include video chat function with Facebook Messenger.[124][125]
In August 2018, a lawsuit was filed in Oakland, California claiming that Facebook created fake accounts in order to inflate its user data and appeal to advertisers in the process.[10]
Aerial view of Facebook campus in Menlo Park, California
In January 2019, the 10 year challenge was started[126] asking users to post a photograph of themselves from 10 years ago (2009) and a more recent photo.[127]
Criticized for its role in vaccine hesitancy, Facebook announced in March 2019 that it would provide users with "authoritative information" on the topic of vaccines.[128] A study in the journal Vaccine[129] of advertisements posted in the three months prior to that found that 54% of the anti-vaccine advertisements on Facebook were placed by just two organisations funded by well-known anti-vaccination activists.[130] The Children's Health Defense / World Mercury Project chaired by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Stop Mandatory Vaccination, run by campaigner Larry Cook, posted 54% of the advertisements. The ads often linked to commercial products, such as natural remedies and books.
On March 14, the Huffington Post reported that Facebook's PR agency had paid someone to tweak Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's Wikipedia page, as well as adding a page for the global head of PR, Caryn Marooney.[131]
In March 2019, the perpetrator of the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand used Facebook to stream live footage of the attack as it unfolded. Facebook took 29 minutes to detect the livestreamed video, which was eight minutes longer than it took police to arrest the gunman. About 1.3m copies of the video were blocked from Facebook but 300,000 copies were published and shared. Facebook has promised changes to its platform; spokesman Simon Dilner told Radio New Zealand that it could have done a better job. Several companies, including the ANZ and ASB banks, have stopped advertising on Facebook after the company was widely condemned by the public.[132] Following the attack, Facebook began blocking white nationalist, white supremacist, and white separatist content, saying that they could not be meaningfully separated. Previously, Facebook had only blocked overtly supremacist content. The older policy had been condemned by civil rights groups, who described these movements as functionally indistinct.[133][134] Further bans were made in mid-April 2019, banning several British far-right organizations and associated individuals from Facebook, and also banning praise or support for them.[135][136]
NTJ's member Moulavi Zahran Hashim, a radical Islamist imam believed to be the mastermind behind the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings, preached on a pro-ISIL Facebook account, known as "Al-Ghuraba" media.[137][138]
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook executives with President Donald Trump in September 2019
On May 2, 2019 at F8, the company announced its new vision with the tagline "the future is private".[139] A redesign of the website and mobile app was introduced, dubbed as "FB5".[140] The event also featured plans for improving groups,[141] a dating platform,[142] end-to-end encryption on its platforms,[143] and allowing users on Messenger to communicate directly with WhatsApp and Instagram users.[144][145]
On July 31, 2019, Facebook announced a partnership with University of California, San Francisco to build a non-invasive, wearable device that lets people type by simply imagining themselves talking.[146]
On September 5, 2019, Facebook launched Facebook Dating in the United States. This new application allows users to integrate their Instagram posts in their dating profile.[147]
Facebook News, which features selected stories from news organizations, was launched on October 25.[148] Facebook's decision to include far-right website Breitbart News as a "trusted source" was negatively received.[149][150]
On November 17, 2019, the banking data for 29,000 Facebook employees was stolen from a payroll worker's car. The data was stored on unencrypted hard drives and included bank account numbers, employee names, the last four digits of their social security numbers, salaries, bonuses, and equity details. The company didn't realize the hard drives were missing until November 20. Facebook confirmed that the drives contained employee information on November 29. Employees weren't notified of the break-in until December 13, 2019.[151]
On March 10, 2020, Facebook appointed two new directors Tracey Travis and Nancy Killefer to their board of members.[152]
In June 2020, several major companies including Adidas, Aviva, Coca-Cola, Ford, HP, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Mars, Starbucks, Target, and Unilever, announced they would pause adverts on Facebook for July in support of the Stop Hate for Profit campaign which claimed the company was not doing enough to remove hateful content.[153] The BBC noted that this was unlikely to affect the company as most of Facebook's advertising revenue comes from small- to medium-sized businesses.[154]
On August 14, 2020, Facebook started integrating the direct messaging service of Instagram with its own Messenger for both iOS and Android devices. After the update, an update screen is said to pop up on Instagram's mobile app with the following message, “There’s a New Way to Message on Instagram” with a list of additional features. As part of the update, the regular DM icon on the top right corner of Instagram will be replaced by the Facebook Messenger logo.[155]
On September 15, 2020, Facebook launched a climate science information centre to promote authoritative voices on climate change and provide access of “factual and up-to-date” information on climate science. It featured facts, figures and data from organizations, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Met Office, UN Environment Programme (UNEP), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO), with relevant news posts.[156]
After the US election, Facebook tweaked the news feed to quantify the trustworthiness and quality of a news source. With this Facebook reduce Election-related misinformation and hate speech without hurting the company's bottom line.[157]
2020–present: FTC lawsuit
As of December 2020 Facebook is being sued by the Federal Trade Commission for illegal monopolization and is seeking the sale of subsidiaries WhatsApp and Instagram.[158][159]
In response to the proposed bill in the Australian Parliament for a News Media Bargaining Code, on 17 February 2021, Facebook blocked Australian users from sharing or viewing news content on its platform, as well as pages of some government, community, union, charity, political, and emergency services.[160] The Australian government strongly criticised the move, saying it demonstrated the "immense market power of these digital social giants".[161]
On February 22 Facebook said it reached an agreement with the Australian government that would see news returning to Australian users in the coming days. As part of this agreement, Facebook and Google can avoid the News Media Bargaining Code adopted on February 25 if they "reach a commercial bargain with a news business outside the Code".[162][163][164]
Facebook has been accused of removing and shadow banning content that spoke either in favor of protesting Indian farmers or against Narendra Modi's government.[165][166][167] India-based employees of Facebook are at risk of arrest.[168]
Website
Further information: List of Facebook features and Facebook Platform
Profile shown on Thefacebook in 2005
Previous Facebook logo in use from August 23, 2005 until July 1, 2015
Technical aspects
Ambox current red Americas.svg
This section's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. The reason given is: Facebook no longer uses HipHop for PHP. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (August 2020)
The website's primary color is blue as Zuckerberg is red–green colorblind, a realization that occurred after a test undertaken around 2007.[169][170] Facebook is built in PHP, compiled with HipHop for PHP, a "source code transformer" built by Facebook engineers that turns PHP into C++.[171] The deployment of HipHop reportedly reduced average CPU consumption on Facebook servers by 50%.[172]
2012 architecture
Facebook is developed as one monolithic application. According to an interview in 2012 with Facebook build engineer Chuck Rossi, Facebook compiles into a 1.5 GB binary blob which is then distributed to the servers using a custom BitTorrent-based release system. Rossi stated that it takes about 15 minutes to build and 15 minutes to release to the servers. The build and release process has zero downtime. Changes to Facebook are rolled out daily.[172]
Facebook used a combination platform based on HBase to store data across distributed machines. Using a tailing architecture, events are stored in log files, and the logs are tailed. The system rolls these events up and writes them to storage. The user interface then pulls the data out and displays it to users. Facebook handles requests as AJAX behavior. These requests are written to a log file using Scribe (developed by Facebook).[173]
Data is read from these log files using Ptail, an internally built tool to aggregate data from multiple Scribe stores. It tails the log files and pulls data out. Ptail data are separated into three streams and sent to clusters in different data centers (Plugin impression, News feed impressions, Actions (plugin + news feed)). Puma is used to manage periods of high data flow (Input/Output or IO). Data is processed in batches to lessen the number of times needed to read and write under high demand periods (A hot article generates many impressions and news feed impressions that cause huge data skews). Batches are taken every 1.5 seconds, limited by memory used when creating a hash table.[173]
Data is then output in PHP format. The backend is written in Java. Thrift is used as the messaging format so PHP programs can query Java services. Caching solutions display pages more quickly. The data is then sent to MapReduce servers where it is queried via Hive. This serves as a backup as the data can be recovered from Hive.[173]
Content delivery network (CDN)
Further information: Content Delivery Network
Facebook uses a CDN or 'edge network' under the domain fbcdn.net for serving static data.[174][175] Until the mid 2010s, Facebook also relied on akamai as the CDN service provider.[176][177][178]
Hack
On March 20, 2014, Facebook announced a new open-source programming language called Hack. Before public release, a large portion of Facebook was already running and "battle tested" using the new language.[179]
Facebook BARS
On 27 February 2021, Facebook announced Facebook BARS app for rappers.[180]
History
On July 20, 2008, Facebook introduced "Facebook Beta", a significant redesign of its user interface on selected networks. The Mini-Feed and Wall were consolidated, profiles were separated into tabbed sections, and an effort was made to create a cleaner look.[181] Facebook began migrating users to the new version in September 2008.[182]
User profile/personal timeline
Facebook login/signup screen
Each registered user on Facebook has a personal profile that shows their posts and content.[183] The format of individual user pages was revamped in September 2011 and became known as "Timeline", a chronological feed of a user's stories,[184][185] including status updates, photos, interactions with apps and events.[186] The layout let users add a "cover photo".[186] Users were given more privacy settings.[186] In 2007, Facebook launched Facebook Pages for brands and celebrities to interact with their fanbase.[187][188] 100,000 Pages launched in November.[189] In June 2009, Facebook introduced a "Usernames" feature, allowing users to choose a unique nickname used in the URL for their personal profile, for easier sharing.[190][191]
In February 2014, Facebook expanded the gender setting, adding a custom input field that allows users to choose from a wide range of gender identities. Users can also set which set of gender-specific pronoun should be used in reference to them throughout the site.[192][193][194] In May 2014, Facebook introduced a feature to allow users to ask for information not disclosed by other users on their profiles. If a user does not provide key information, such as location, hometown, or relationship status, other users can use a new "ask" button to send a message asking about that item to the user in a single click.[195][196]
News Feed
Further information: News Feed
News Feed appears on every user's homepage and highlights information including profile changes, upcoming events and friends' birthdays.[197] This enabled spammers and other users to manipulate these features by creating illegitimate events or posting fake birthdays to attract attention to their profile or cause.[198] Initially, the News Feed caused dissatisfaction among Facebook users; some complained it was too cluttered and full of undesired information, others were concerned that it made it too easy for others to track individual activities (such as relationship status changes, events, and conversations with other users).[199] Zuckerberg apologized for the site's failure to include appropriate privacy features. Users then gained control over what types of information are shared automatically with friends. Users are now able to prevent user-set categories of friends from seeing updates about certain types of activities, including profile changes, Wall posts and newly added friends.[200]
On February 23, 2010, Facebook was granted a patent[201] on certain aspects of its News Feed. The patent covers News Feeds in which links are provided so that one user can participate in the activity of another user.[202] The sorting and display of stories in a user's News Feed is governed by the EdgeRank algorithm.[203]
The Photos application allows users to upload albums and photos.[204] Each album can contain 200 photos.[205] Privacy settings apply to individual albums. Users can "tag", or label, friends in a photo. The friend receives a notification about the tag with a link to the photo.[206] This photo tagging feature was developed by Aaron Sittig, now a Design Strategy Lead at Facebook, and former Facebook engineer Scott Marlette back in 2006 and was only granted a patent in 2011.[207][208]
On June 7, 2012, Facebook launched its App Center to help users find games and other applications.[209]
On May 13, 2015, Facebook in association with major news portals launched "Instant Articles" to provide news on the Facebook news feed without leaving the site.[210][211]
In January 2017, Facebook launched Facebook Stories for iOS and Android in Ireland. The feature, following the format of Snapchat and Instagram stories, allows users to upload photos and videos that appear above friends' and followers' News Feeds and disappear after 24 hours.[212]
On October 11, 2017, Facebook introduced the 3D Posts feature to allow for uploading interactive 3D assets.[213] On January 11, 2018, Facebook announced that it would change News Feed to prioritize friends/family content and de-emphasize content from media companies.[214]
In February 2020, Facebook announced it would spend $1 billion to license news material from publishers for the next three years; a pledge coming as the company falls under scrutiny from governments across the globe over paying for news content appearing on the platform. The pledge would be in addition to the $600 million paid since 2018 through deals with news companies such as The Guardian and Financial Times.[215][216][217]
In February 2021, Facebook launches new ad campaign to convince iPhone users to enable ad tracking, cause late last year, Apple introduced its new privacy-centered changes that forced all app developers to explicitly ask users for permission to collect this data. Facebook was not happy (and is still not happy) about it.[218]
Like button
Further information: Facebook like button
Human billboard advertising Facebook Canberra in the City page at the National Multicultural Festival
The "like" button, stylized as a "thumbs up" icon, was first enabled on February 9, 2009,[219] and enables users to easily interact with status updates, comments, photos and videos, links shared by friends, and advertisements. Once clicked by a user, the designated content is more likely to appear in friends' News Feeds.[220][221] The button displays the number of other users who have liked the content.[222] The like button was extended to comments in June 2010.[223] In February 2016, Facebook expanded Like into "Reactions", choosing among five pre-defined emotions, including "Love", "Haha", "Wow", "Sad", or "Angry".[224][225][226][227] In late April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new "Care" reaction was added.[228]
Instant messaging
Main article: Facebook Messenger
Facebook Messenger is an instant messaging service and software application. It began as Facebook Chat in 2008,[229] was revamped in 2010[230] and eventually became a standalone mobile app in August 2011, while remaining part of the user page on browsers.[231]
Complementing regular conversations, Messenger lets users make one-to-one[232] and group[233] voice[234] and video calls.[235] Its Android app has integrated support for SMS[236] and "Chat Heads", which are round profile photo icons appearing on-screen regardless of what app is open,[237] while both apps support multiple accounts,[238] conversations with optional end-to-end encryption[239] and "Instant Games".[240] Some features, including sending money[241] and requesting transportation,[242] are limited to the United States.[241] In 2017, Facebook added "Messenger Day", a feature that lets users share photos and videos in a story-format with all their friends with the content disappearing after 24 hours;[243] Reactions, which lets users tap and hold a message to add a reaction through an emoji;[244] and Mentions, which lets users in group conversations type @ to give a particular user a notification.[244]
Businesses and users can interact through Messenger with features such as tracking purchases and receiving notifications, and interacting with customer service representatives. Third-party developers can integrate apps into Messenger, letting users enter an app while inside Messenger and optionally share details from the app into a chat.[245] Developers can build chatbots into Messenger, for uses such as news publishers building bots to distribute news.[246] The M virtual assistant (U.S.) scans chats for keywords and suggests relevant actions, such as its payments system for users mentioning money.[247][248] Group chatbots appear in Messenger as "Chat Extensions". A "Discovery" tab allows finding bots, and enabling special, branded QR codes that, when scanned, take the user to a specific bot.[249]
Following
Users can "Follow" content posted by other users without needing to friend them.[250] Accounts can be "verified", confirming a user's identity.[251]
Privacy controls
See also: § Privacy
PRISM: a clandestine surveillance program under which the NSA collects user data from companies like Facebook and Yahoo![252]
Facebook enables users to control access to individual posts and their profile[253] through privacy settings.[254] The user's name and profile picture (if applicable) are public. Facebook's revenue depends on targeted advertising, which involves analyzing user data (from the site and the broader internet) to inform the targeting. These facilities have changed repeatedly since the service's debut, amid a series of controversies covering everything from how well it secures user data, to what extent it allows users to control access, to the kinds of access given to third parties, including businesses, political campaigns and governments. These facilities vary according to country, as some nations require the company to make data available (and limit access to services), while the European Union's GDPR regulation mandates additional privacy protections.[255]
Facebook Bug Bounty Program
A Facebook "White Hat" debit card, given to researchers who report security bugs.
On July 29, 2011, Facebook announced its Bug Bounty Program that paid security researchers a minimum of $500 for reporting security holes. The company promised not to pursue "white hat" hackers who identified such problems.[256][257] This led researchers in many countries to participate, particularly in India and Russia.[258]
Reception
User growth and decline
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,[259] and 500 million in July 2010.[51] 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.[52]
In October 2012 Facebook's monthly active users passed one billion,[78][260] with 600 million mobile users, 219 billion photo uploads, and 140 billion friend connections.[79] The 2 billion user mark was crossed in June 2017.[261][262]
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.[263]
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.[264][265] The decline coincided with an increase in the popularity of Instagram, which is also owned by Facebook Inc.[264][265]
Historically, commentators have offered predictions of Facebook's decline or end, based on causes such as a declining user base;[266] 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;[267] or Facebook's role in Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.[268]
Facebook popularity. Active users of Facebook increased from just a million
in 2004 to over 2.3 billion in 2018.[255]
Population pyramid of Facebook users by age As of 2010[269]
Demographics
The highest number of Facebook users as of October 2018 are from India and the United States, followed by Indonesia, Brazil and Mexico.[270] Region-wise, the highest number of users are from Asia-Pacific (947 million) followed by Europe (381 million) and US-Canada (242 million). The rest of the world has 750 million users.[271]
Over the 2008-2018 period, the percentage of users under 34 declined to less than half of the total.[255]
Awards
The website has won awards such as placement into the "Top 100 Classic Websites" by PC Magazine in 2007,[272] and winning the "People's Voice Award" from the Webby Awards in 2008.[273]
In 2010, Facebook won the Crunchie "Best Overall Startup Or Product" award[274] for the third year in a row.[275]
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