FacebookFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search This article is about the website. For the collection of photographs of people after which it is named, see Facebook (directory(directory).). Facebook, Inc. Type Private Founded Cambridge, MassachusettsMassachusetts[1][1] (2004 (2004)) Founder Mark Zuckerberg Eduardo Saverin Dustin Moskovitz Chris Hughes HeadquarterHeadquarterss Palo Alto, California, U.S., will be moved to MenMenlolo Park, California, U.S. in June 2011 Area served Worldwide Key people Mark Zuckerberg (CEO) Chris Cox (VP of Product) Sheryl Sandberg (COO) Donald E. Graham (Chairman) Revenue US$800 mmillionillion (2009 est.)[2] Net income N/A This website stores data such as cookies to enableEmployees essential 2000+(2011)[3] site functionality, as well as marketing, personalization,Website and analytics. facebook.com You may change your settings at any time or accept theIPv6 default support settings. www.v6.fawww.v6.facebook.comcebook.com Alexa rank 2 (Ma(Marchrch 2011[upda2011[update][4])te][4]) Privacy Policy Type of site Social networking service Marketing PersonalizationAdvertising Banner ads, referral marketing, casual games AnalyticsRegistration Required Save Accept All Users 600 million[5][6] (active in January 2011) Available in Multilingual Launched February 4, 2004 Current status Active Screenshot[show] Screenshot of Facebook's homepage Facebook (stylized facebook) is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc.[1] As of January 2011[update], Facebook has more than 600 million active users.[5][6] Users may create a personal profile, add other users as friends, and exchange messages, including automatic notifications when they update their profile. Additionally, users may join common interest user groups, organized by workplace, school or college, or other characteristics. The name of the service stems from the colloquial name for the book given to students at the start of the academic year by university administraadministrationstions in the United States to help students get to know each other better. Facebook alallowslows anyone who declares themselves to be at least 13 years old to become a registered user of the website. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow computer science students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes.[7] The website's membership was initially limited by the founders to Harvard students, but was expanded to other colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University. It gradually added support for students at various other universities before opening to high school students, and, finally, to anyone aged 13 and over. This website stores data such as cookies to enableA January essential 2009 site Compete.com study ranked Facebook as the most used social functionality,networking as well as marketing, service by worldwide monthly active userusers,s, followed by MySpace.[8] personalization,Entertainment and analytics. YouWeekly put it on its end-of-the-decade "best-of" list, saying, "How may changeon your earth settings did at we any stalktime our exes, remember our co-worco-workers'kers' birthdaysbirthdays,, bug our or accept the default settings. friends, and play a rousing game of Scrabulous before Facebook?"[9] QuaQuantcastntcast estimates Facebook has 135.1 million monthly unique U.S. visitors in October Privacy Policy2010.[10] According to Social Media Today, in April 2010 an estimated 41.6% of Marketingthe U.S. population had a Facebook account.[11] Personalization AnalyticsContents [hide] Save Accept All 1 History 2 Company 3 Website 4 Reception 5 Criticism 6 Social impact 7 Political impact 8 In media 9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 12 External links HistoryMain articles: History of Facebook and Timeline of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg wrote Facemash, the predecessor to Facebook, on October 28, 2003, while attending Harvard as a sophomore. According to The Harvard Crimson, the site was comparable to Hot or Not, and "used photos compiled from the online facebooks of nine houses, placing two next to each other at a time and asking users to choose the 'hotter' person".[12person".[12][13]][13] Mark Zuckerberg co-created Facebook in his Harvard dorm room.To accomplish This website stores data such as cookies to enablethis, Zuckerbergessential site hacked into the protected areas of Harvard's computer network functionality,and as well copied as marketing, the houses' private dormitory ID iimages.mages. HarvaHarvardrd at that time did not personalization,have and a analytics.student You "facebook" (a directory with photos and basic information). may changeFacemash your settings attracattractedat any timeted 450 visitors and 22,000 photo-views in its first four hours or accept theonline.[12][14] default settings. Privacy Policy Marketing The site was quickly forwarded to several campus group list-servers, but was shut down a few days later by the Harvard administradministration.ation. ZuckerbeZuckerbergrg was Personalization Analyticsviolatingcharged byindividual the administration privacy, and with faced breach expulsion. of securi Ultimately,ty, violating however, copyrights, the and Save Accept All charges were dropped.[15] ZuckerbeZuckerbergrg expanded on ththisis initial project that semester by creating a social study tool ahead of aann art history final, by uploading 500 Augustan images to a website, with ononee image per page along with a comment section.[14] He opened the site up ttoo his classmates, and people started sharing their notes. The following semester, Zuckerberg began writing code for a new website in January 2004. He was inspired, he said, by an editeditorialorial in The Harvard Crimson about the Facemash incident.[16] On February 4, 2004, Zuckerberg launched "Thefacebook""Thefacebook",, originally located at thefacebook.thefacebook.com.[17]com.[17] Six days after the site launched, three Harvard senseniors,iors, Cameron Winklevoss,Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss, and Divya Narendra, accused Zuckerberg of intentionally misleading them into believing he would help them build a social network called HarvardCHarvardConnection.com,onnection.com, while he was instead using their ideideasas to build a competing product.[18] The three complained to the Harvard Crimson, and the newspaper began an investigation. The three later filed a lawsuit against Zuckerberg, subsequently settling.[19] Membership was initially restricted to students of Harvard College, and within the first month, more than half the undergraduatundergraduatee population at Harvard was registered on the service.[20] Eduardo Saverin (bus(businessiness aspects), Dustin Moskovitz (programme(programmer),r), Andrew McCollum (graphic artist), and Chris HugHugheshes soon joined Zuckerberg to help promote the website. In March 2004, Facebook expanded to Stanford, Columbia, and Yale.[21] It soon opened to the other Ivy League schools, Boston University, New York UniversUniversity,ity, MIT, and gradually most universities in Canada and the United States.[22][2States.[22][23]3] Facebook incorporated in the summer of 2004, and ththee entrepreneur Sean This websiteParker, stores data who such had as been informally advising ZuckerbergZuckerberg,, became the company'scompany's cookies to enablepresident.[24] essential site In June 2004, Facebook moved its base of operations to Palo Alto, functionality,California.[21] as well as marketing, It received its first investment later that month from PayPal co- personalization,founder and analytics. Peter Thiel.[25]You The company dropped The from its name after may change your settings at any time or accept thepurchasing default settings. the domain name facebook.com in 2005 for $200,000.[26] Privacy Policy Total active users[N 1] Date Users Marketing (in millions) Days later Monthly growth[N 2] Personalization Analytics02008-08-26 August 26, 2008 &0000000000000100000000100[27] &00000000000016650000001,665 178.38% Save Accept All 02009-04-08 April 8, 2009 &0000000000000200000000200[28] &0000000000000225000000225 13.33% 02009-09-15 September 15, 2009 &0000000000000300000000300[29] &0000000000000150000000150 10% 02010-02-05 February 5, 2010 &0000000000000400000000400[30] &0000000000000143000000143 6.99% 02010-07-21 July 21, 2010 &0000000000000500000000500[31] &0000000000000166000000166 4.52% 02011-01-05 January 5, 2011 &0000000000000600000000600[32][N 3] &0000000000000168000000168 3.57% Facebook launched a high school version in SeptembeSeptemberr 2005, which Zuckerberg called the next logical step.[33] At that time, highigh-schoolh-school networks required an invitation to join.[34] Facebook later expanded membership eligibility to employees of several companies, including Apple IncInc.. and Microsoft.[35] olderFacebook with wasa valid then email opened address.[36][37] on September 26, 2006, to everyone of age 13 and On October 24, 2007, Microsoft announced that it hahadd purchased a 1.6% shareshare of Facebook for $240 million, giving Facebook a total implied value of around $15 billion.[38] Microsoft's purchase included rights to place international ads on Facebook.[39] In October 2008, Facebook announced that it would set up its international headquarterheadquarterss in Dublin, Ireland.[40] In September 2009, Facebook said that it had turned cash flow positive for the first time.[41] IInn November 2010, based on SecondMarket Inc., an exchange for shares of privately held companies, Facebook's value was $41 billion