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Feb 4 marks the 20th anniversary (well, sort of) of a platform that has helped to shape the digital era. Founded in 2004 as TheFacebook by 19-year-old Mark Zuckerberg and his Harvard classmates Chris Hughes, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Eduardo Saverin, the social platform rebranded as Facebook in February 2005. With a new name and domain, it quickly rose to prominence as a tool to connect people.
Once a destination exclusively for younger generations, Facebook’s user demographics have skewed older over the years. With more than 3 billion monthly active users, it remains one of the most popular social networks in the world and a cornerstone for social media marketing campaigns. (Fun fact: AOE clients generally see the highest engagement among employees on Facebook as compared with other platforms.)
However, the platform’s history is a mix of innovation, controversy and transformation that is worth revisiting.
Controversial beginnings
Before Facebook was even an idea, Zuckerberg and friends created Facemash in 2003. The website encouraged users to rate female Harvard students’ face book photos for attractiveness in a “hot or not” game, with the images acquired without consent by hacking into sorority house directories. Facesmash faced a swift backlash for its invasive and unethical nature and was shut down by university officials.
Not long after, a new opportunity arose. Zuckerberg teamed with Saverin and soon after Hughes, McCollum and Moskovitz to launch TheFacebook in February 2004. The idea was to create a digital directory to help Harvard students connect. Almost immediately, legal disputes emerged. Fellow Harvard students Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, along with Divya Narendra, accused Zuckerberg of stealing their idea for a social networking site called HarvardConnection (later rebranded as ConnectU). The dispute ignited a court battle that eventually resulted in a settlement of $65 million.
From collegiate campuses to global platform
Despite its rocky start, the platform appealed to college students and expanded quickly from Harvard to other elite universities before changing its name and then opening first to high school students in 2005 and next to anybody 13 and over with an email address in 2006. By late 2007, Facebook had 100,000 pages on which companies promoted themselves, and by 2010 had more than 500 million users.
Facebook vs MySpace
Many a millennial and Gen Xer tend to wax poetic about MySpace, the social media platform that dominated before Facebook. Launched in 2003, MySpace offered the ability to build highly customizable profiles. Users could add music tracks and embed custom HTML designs to create a personal online space. MySpace also helped pioneer the idea of online communities, allowing users to connect based on shared interests.
When Facebook debuted, it took a different approach. Rather than offering highly personalized profiles, Facebook profiles followed the same clean design, making them user-friendly and visually consistent. This shift appealed to those who found MySpace's design overwhelming or chaotic.
However, Facebook’s biggest game-changer was the News Feed feature. While MySpace encouraged users to visit individuals' profiles to view updates, Facebook centralized these interactions into a single, scrolling feed. Initially met with criticism over privacy concerns, the News Feed eventually transformed how users consumed updates and stayed connected—laying the foundation for how modern social platforms operate.
MySpace’s rapid growth led to technical challenges, such as slow performance. Facebook, by contrast, expanded gradually, starting as an exclusive network before opening to the public. This controlled rollout allowed Facebook to stabilize its infrastructure and build a reliable user experience.
Key milestones
Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp and Oculus VR in 2014, expanding into photo-sharing and instant messaging as well as virtual and augmented reality. The diversified offerings ensured Facebook remained relevant in the face of shifting user trends, further cementing its control over online communication.
The introduction of Facebook Pages (in 2009), Groups (2010) and Marketplace (2016) opened new opportunities for users to connect. These features not only offered companies a way to foster loyal communities but also enabled smaller businesses to grow and thrive.
Algorithms—the good and the bad
Facebook’s development of algorithms has been a defining force behind its growth and influence. The News Feed algorithms became more sophisticated, shifting the platform from a chronological timeline to personalized, engagement-driven content delivery. By analyzing user interactions, such as likes, shares, comments and clicks, the algorithms prioritized the most relevant posts, keeping users engaged so they stayed on the platform longer and transforming how information was consumed online. These algorithms also revolutionized digital advertising, enabling highly targeted ads that fueled Facebook’s success as an advertising platform.
While Facebook’s algorithms enhanced user experience and advertising efficacy, they also faced criticism for amplifying sensational or divisive content, contributing to the spread of misinformation and harmful political propaganda and fostering echo chambers and self-selected biases. Events like the Cambridge Analytica data breach for political targeting scandal illustrated the risks of Facebook’s data practices, eroding public trust. Additionally, former Facebook data analyst and whistleblower Frances Haugen’s 2021 Congressional testimony detailed how Facebook’s engagement-based algorithms prioritized profit over the mental health and safety of users, especially minors, which has sparked a broader, ongoing debate on the ethics of social media design.
Rebranding to Meta
Facebook’s most significant transformation came in 2021 when Zuckerberg announced the rebranding of the parent company to Meta Platforms. The shift signaled the company’s desire to lead the development of the "metaverse," an ambitious vision of interconnected virtual spaces enabled by augmented and virtual reality. While this move has been marketed as a bold step toward the future, it also raised concerns about further data mining and privacy invasion in uncharted digital territories. In 2023, Zuckerberg announced a move away from the metaverse to focus on generative artificial intelligence.
A final look back
Facebook emerged from humble yet ethically murky origins to become a global force, transforming the way we communicate and how brands connect with target audiences. While the algorithmic landscape presents ongoing challenges concerning data privacy and platform accountability, Facebook remains a pivotal force in shaping the future of brand storytelling and customer engagement across the globe. Its advanced targeting tools and data-driven advertising have allowed businesses to reach users with unmatched precision, making it a go-to social media platform for ad spend and digital marketing.
To learn how to leverage Facebook and other social platforms to reach your target audience, visit AOE’s social media marketing page and Digital University. Contact us for assistance reaching your digital marketing goals!