• About

    Facebook is a social networking web site that connects people with friends, much like Friendster and MySpace. It was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, a Harvard University student, in 2004 and quickly grew in popularity. It is now the top social networking site in most countries around the world.

    Competitors to the site include MySpace and in some respects Twitter as well.

  • History

    Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook from his dorm room at Harvard University in 2004. It was first available only to Harvard students. Over the next two years, he opened it up first to other Ivy League colleges, then to a broader base of colleges, and then to the general public. In September of 2008 Facebook hit a record 39 million unique visitors in the United States, representing 116% growth over 2007.Mashable: Facebook Hits Record 39MM Visitors in US (October 20, 2008)

    In May 2009 Facebook moved headquartershttp://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=90273942130, still staying in Palo Alto but changing to a new building.

  • 2009 New Looks

    On March 13, 2009, Facebook unveiled a new look, with CEO Zuckerberg appearing on Oprah Winfrey's program to explain himself. The move is widely seen as an attempt to include Twitter-like characteristics and expand Facebook's usability as a network tool. First reviews were harsh.ValleyWag: What Facebook's New Look Means (March 17, 2009) New York Times: Facebook Changes Bring Inevitable Complaints (March 16, 2009)

    On the 12th August the web lit up with news of a new lite weight beta version of the site, dubbed 'Facebook Lite'. It remains to be seen if this will be rolled out to all users, but Facebook says it has been designed to work best in places where internet is slow.

  • Facebook acquisitions

    Facebook acquired FriendFeed on the 12th August 2009 for an undisclosed amount. The four founders of FriendFeed have all taken on senior roles on Facebook's engineering team.

  • Terms of Service Controversy

    On February 4, 2009, Facebook changed their Terms of Service (TOS). Under the new terms, Facebook retains the right to use the images and writings of their members for their own purposes. For example, a picture of your child 'could' be used in an advertising campaign. Additionally, if a user closes their account, Facebook will archive copies of user submitted content.FoxNews.com: Facebook Membership May Be Forever (February 17, 2009) Zuckerberg said, "We're not doing this to profit from you, it's so we are legally protected as we enable you to share content with other users and services."Consumerist: Facebook's New Terms Of Service: "We Can Do Anything..." (February 15, 2009)

    On February 18, 2009, Facebook announced they would return to their previous terms of service rules while they try to resolve issues their users have voiced their concerns about.NYT: Facebook Withdrawals Changes in Data Use (February 18, 2009)

    Small changes have since been made in November 2009 to Facebook's Privacy Policy, which was voted upon by such a small minority of Facebook users that it was passed, and made live.

  • Facebook vs Twitter

    In March of 2009, Facebook launched a new marketing plan to compete with Twitter, whose growing number of celebrities and large companies suggest the potential to move ahead of Facebook in the professional networking market. Thus Facebook intends to become both a private and public networking tool, and will start by implementing changes such as removing the 5,000 friend limit, eliminating the distinctions between public and private profiles and changing news updates to real time.Paste Magazine: Facebook makes some changes to compete with Twitter (March 6, 2009)

    In August of 2009, Facebook launched a beta of a lite-weight version of the platform, dubbed Facebook Lite which some have seen as an attempt to compete with Twitter.

  • Facebook the Movie

    A movie on Facebook, unofficially referred to as Facebook the Movie, is currently under production and will be based upon the beginnings of the world's most popular social networking site.

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