Facebook: From Zero to 2.3 Billion in 15 Years - From Zero to 2.3 Billion in 15 Years

Published on: February 4, 2019 / Update from: February 4, 2019 - Author: Konrad Wolfenstein

15 years ago, on February 4, 2004, 19-year-old Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg, along with some of his classmates, started a small website called Thefacebook.

"Thefacebook is an online directory that connects people across college social networks," the original website greeted its visitors at the time , explaining that it would allow them to "search for people at your school, find out who in your classes[ sic] is to visit your friends’ friends and see a visualization of your social network”.

Initially limited to the Harvard campus, the service quickly gained popularity and was subsequently expanded to other colleges. By the end of 2004, Thefacebook had more than 1 million registered users and the newly formed company behind it had not only moved to Silicon Valley but also secured a $500,000 investment from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. After changing its name to “Facebook” in 2005, the social network was opened to the general public in the fall of 2006, marking the beginning of one of the most remarkable growth stories in the company’s history.

Within three years it added 350 million users and in the summer of 2012 it became the first online service of its kind to reach 1 billion active users per month. By the end of 2018, that number had grown to 2.32 billion people, meaning more than half of the world's online population is using the platform dreamed up by a teenager in his college dorm room.

15 years ago, on February 4, 2004, 19-year-old Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg, along with some of his classmates, launched a little website called Thefacebook.

“Thefacebook is an online directory that connects people through social networks at colleges,” the original website greeted its visitors back then, explaining that it would enable them to “search for people at your school, find out who are in your classes [sic] ", look up your friends' friends and see a visualization of your social network."

Confined to the Harvard campus at first, the service quickly gained popularity and was subsequently rolled out to other colleges. By the end of 2004, Thefacebook had more than 1 million registered users and the newly-founded company behind it had not only moved to Silicon Valley but also secured a $500,000 investment from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. After changing its name to just “Facebook” in 2005, the social network was opened to the general public in the fall of 2006, marking the start of one of the most remarkable growth stories in corporate history.

Within three years, the social network added 350 million users and in the summer of 2012, it became the first online service of its kind to reach 1 billion monthly active users. By the end of 2018, that number had grown to 2.32 billion people, meaning that more than half the world's online population is using the platform dreamed up by a teenager in his college dorm room.

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