DUBLIN – Facebook is fifteen this month. In that time, the social network has become THE social network, and internet giant with tentacles that reach around the globe. Every day, billions of people interact with the platform and its associated services, including WhatsApp and Instagram. Fuelled by a digital, data-based advertising boom, the company delivers enormous operating margins and billions in revenue. Yet, like all world-changing companies, Facebook has its critics and raises its fair share of concerns. Increasingly, regulators are turning their attention to the company, seeking to minimise the harm it does through sharing fake news and incendiary political material, as well as to protect vulnerable consumers from its apparent data abuses. Facebook is here to stay, but all of us will decide where it goes next, through our social media activities and our elected officials. – Felicity Duncan
Facebook’s Timeline: 15 Years In
By Kurt Wilberding and Georgia Wells
(The Wall Street Journal) Facebook was created by Mark Zuckerberg in a Harvard dorm room in February 2004 as a way for Ivy League buddies to socialize. Fifteen years later, as of Dec. 31, it had 2.32 billion customers who use it at least once a month. Along the way, the company went public, became a force as mobile devices proliferated and now faces questions about its role in shaping public opinion and its handling of all this private data.
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Humble beginnings
In 2007, Myspace was the most popular social-media site, with more than twice the traffic of Facebook. A year later, Facebook passed it and never looked back.
Going public
Facebook became a publicly owned company in 2012, but its stock wasn’t an immediate hit amid concerns about the site’s ability to grow and attract advertising on mobile devices. That changed as the company fine-tuned its app for smaller screens.
Buying the competition
The company has made few big acquisitions in its history, but those purchases have added many users to its network.
Growing older
In the U.S., Facebook has seen its usage among younger Americans decline in recent years but pick up among older generations.
Rise and slide
After an initial stumble, Facebook’s stock price grew steadily until the past year, when concerns about Russian meddling in the 2016 election, data protection and slowing user growth in U.S. and Europe reversed momentum. Even with the latest stumble, the company’s share growth has outpaced other notable tech giants.
The usage map released by Facebook after surpassing the 2 billion user milestone. PHOTO: FACEBOOK
Write to Georgia Wells at [email protected]
