Facebook Birthday: Social Network Turns 8

Today marks the eighth anniversary since the social network launched at Harvard University in Mark Zuckberg's dorm room on February 4, 2004.

After Google, Facebook is the most visited site in the world and may reach as many as 1 billion members by August, notes Mashable.

On February 1, the company filed a Form S-1 with the SEC in preparation for an IPO worth $5 billion. Some speculate that once Facebook begins trading publicly, it could be valued as high as $100 billion.

According to Facebook's S-1, the company pulled in a whopping $1 billion in net profit on $3.7 billion in revenue in 2011. But much of Facebook's success has come from building a better user experience and resisting the temptation to make fast money. Indeed, the S-1 featured a section titled "The Hacker Way," a declaration by Mark Zuckerberg, who wrote that the company's mantra has long been to focus on delivering features first and improving later.

WIth over 800 million members worldwide, it's pretty amazing how Facebook has grown and changed our lives over the years.

It now seems almost impossible to imagine life without witty status updates, friend requests, relationship statuses or photo tags.

Users became even more attached to the site after the company rolled out interactive features like chat, the timeline and the subscription button.

Some might even say the site resembles a digital resume, especially since now you can turn your timeline into business cards.

Even more notable is how Facebook expanded internationally. Available in over 70 languages, 80% of the company's monthly users are from outside the U.S. and Canada.

Happy Birthday, Facebook.

Comments

[Donald J Sullivan]

03:48 AM on 02/07/2012

Yeah yeah grumble grumble who really cares. The movie based on the site was better watching him screw the dorky twins and only paying a speeding fine ..roflmao Now they plague my TV with pistachio commercials...Go away dorky twins. The power of Christ compels you.

[MFS001]

12:14 PM on 02/05/2012

Reading the complaints about FB here, I'm reminded of Louis CK's line about technology being wasted on the worst generations, ie the miracle of flight -- and the miracle of being able to instantly communicate and share with friends around the world.

Yes, you can disengage if that is how you feel -- just like you can avoid TSA lines by not flying. But you are still commenting about it on a site that, essentially, is doing the same thing as FB.

[spach10]

11:29 AM on 02/05/2012

I tried..... I got fed up .... something about actually talking to my friends in person, makes the friendship...old fashion I guess...or human?

[FiftyGigs]

10:55 AM on 02/05/2012

"Happy Birthday, Facebook."

Corporations are people too.

[optimiskeptic]

04:50 PM on 02/05/2012

Favorited, for what I assume is a sarcastic post.

With the same rationale: "Up yours, Facebook."

[FiftyGigs]

06:22 PM on 02/06/2012

You have a good eye for sarcasm, optimiskeptic. A lot of people don't. Thanks.

[Rick2783]

10:40 AM on 02/05/2012

Hey winklevoss twins. Hope you're enjoying those free millions Mark donated to you...

[cuoi]

09:35 AM on 02/05/2012

FB going to earn billions and users don't get a dime. Sort of like folks who pay a lot for money to wear t-shirts to provide free walking billboards for a product. But FB users pay with their privacy.

[jeb50]

11:34 AM on 02/05/2012

Suckers.

[MFS001]

11:53 AM on 02/05/2012

That's how our economy works. Today you'll be watching Super Bowl ads and not getting "a dime." FB is just more targeted, like direct mail.

[optimiskeptic]

04:48 PM on 02/05/2012

That's the whole point. Super Bowl advertisers don't know who's watching. FB collects your data to target you, but all the profits for that go to Facebook and the advertisers; they pay you nothing for your data.

[Marc Marxx]

08:57 AM on 02/05/2012

Closed my profile and will not reopen. The site is a data mining operation for Big Brother. I have nothing to hide but I still dont like what has happened to this operation.

[dennis1943]

09:33 AM on 02/05/2012

Ditto............

[cuoi]

09:42 AM on 02/05/2012

Ditto. But I have a lot to hide like, mainly, all my private life. I prefer to make the decision what to disclose and to whom but it is becoming increasingly difficult. Credit cards and regular cell phones track folks pretty effectively.

[karen lyons kalmenson]

08:08 AM on 02/05/2012

happy bidet FB

[cuoi]

09:33 AM on 02/05/2012

short but suet.

[karen lyons kalmenson]

10:10 AM on 02/05/2012

not so lean and mean;-D

[marvelez47]

08:05 AM on 02/05/2012

My life would be more peaceful, more private, & more productive.

[stopgeorge]

04:18 AM on 02/05/2012

Never used it -- never will.

[MFS001]

11:56 AM on 02/05/2012

You're using a site that does the same thing, essentially.

[YeahDonkey]

01:37 AM on 02/05/2012

facebook, the digital cork board. NOW WITH A TIMELINE!!!!!

[YeahDonkey]

01:35 AM on 02/05/2012

F*** facebook in the face.

[AndresWalters]

01:30 AM on 02/05/2012

Happy Birthday Facebook! Thank you for re-shaping social media!

[v98max]

01:08 AM on 02/05/2012

I read an article to the effect that Facebook makes you lonely and depressed. So I gave it up for a month. Guess what. Nothing changed, except I stopped going out of my way to take fun pictures for posting on there. I kind of miss the extremely amateur photography.

[karen lyons kalmenson]

08:20 AM on 02/05/2012

it is a bandaid on the festering wound of isolation

[Joanne Staunton Jackson]

01:01 AM on 02/05/2012

OK. Fine. You all hate FB. So...It's a huge boon to those of us who are older and like to stay in touch while neither imposing on our family members nor making phone calls nor writing letters. It's definitely a plus in a lot of ways. It was really tough back when we had to wait weeks or months to hear from our college kids or our old friends from back when. Privacy has always been an illusion anyway, and you've been a target of capitalist shills from the start, so what's new about that part of it. Take the good; blow off the bad. Appreciate what we've got.

[jeb50]

11:44 AM on 02/05/2012

Yeah, right. An e-mail is much more personal than actually talking with a person or taking the time to personally write a letter. I also like to pick my friends not have some clown tell me who they are. And if you had to wait weeks or months to hear from your own kids maybe it's you. FB just wants to get and sell as much of your personal information as they can.

[MFS001]

12:03 PM on 02/05/2012

Well said Joanne, thanks. I recall Louis CK's joke that technology is wasted on the worst generations -- that we can now fly across the nation in hours and peopole complain about 20 minutes delays, etc.

FB has fundamentally changed how we communicate as a society, in the ways you mentioned. And FB is making lots of money, good for them. The people here complaining are the same ones who will watch a football game in their house today, and watch those ads, with no since of irony.