The History of Facebook

    Did you know that there are 2.7 billion users on Facebook? It is the largest social media network worldwide. Facebook has grown tremendously since it first launched. So, here is the history of how it all got started:

    Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, got into Harvard in 2003. While at Harvard, he started Facemash, which let students at Harvard judge the attractiveness of others by creating rankings for them. This was a big hit for Harvard students with 22k views within the first few hours of the launch. It got shut down by the university, because Zuckerberg did not get permission from the school board to start it up. The Harvard Administration Board wanted to expel him, but they let Zuckerberg stay and that motivated him to start his next big project. 

    His next project was Thefacebook and it launched in 2004. This was a site where you could upload a photo, share your interests and connect with others. It was open to people with a Harvard email address and had a lot of success right away. Unfortunately, Zuckerberg was being sued. His three friends claimed that they came up with the idea, and that Zuckerberg stole it. Eventually, they reached a settlement where they got 1.2M shares in the company. Thefacebook was an instant hit and by the end of 2004, it was open to all Universities across the US and Canada. It started to receive more funding and then they dropped the 'the'. Because of all the funding it received, it started opening to high schoolers and employees of Microsoft and Apple. Zuckerberg started out as the programmer of Facebook, then in 2005 he left Harvard and became the CEO. Facebook kept making more money and growing more and more when Zuckerberg became CEO. 

    After hearing of the history of Facebook, many people may wonder why it grew to be so popular and how it has stayed to be so popular. Facebook established itself as a safe-space by opening first to college and then high school students. Its gradual opening stood out to people as it being a safe and protective company. Facebook also had a reliable technological infrastructure that avoided technical problems. Unlike other websites, such as MySpace, this technology attracted engineers that then helped Zuckerberg handle the demand for his company. Facebook triumphed over all other social media and it continues to still be the most popular network by far.