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Facebook
The Facebook first launched on February 4, 2004. It was founded by Mark Zuckerberg and some of his fellow classmates. It was initially created for Harvard students but later made available to other college students. In September 2006, it was made available to anyone over the age of 13 who owned an email address. History of Facebook. (2023, December 18). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Facebook -
The like button
In April 2007 Facebook had 20 million users, but by October 2007 it had 50 million users. In late July 2008, they launched the mobile iOS app. Soon after more things were added such as messaging, pages, and ads. The biggest release was the like button in February 2009. Jalan, A. (2023, February 5). The Evolution of Facebook: From 2004 to Meta. https://www.makeuseof.com/evolution-of-facebook/ -
Outages
Facebook has had quite a few outages that drew some attention. In 2007 an outage caused users to be able to read other people's mail. In 2008 the site was unavailable for a day. On 09/16/2009, Facebook had problems loading due to hackers that were preventing a political speaker from speaking out. Criticism of Facebook. (2023, December 5). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Facebook -
Lawsuits
Facebook has had its share of legal problems. In 2004 they were sued by twins because Mark didn't keep up his end of their deal. In 2008 he settled with them. In 2010 Paul Ceglia sued Mark, but it was later dismissed. McFadden, C. (2023, March 29). A Brief History of Facebook and Its Major Milestones. https://interestingengineering.com/culture/history-of-facebook -
Pros and cons
One benefit of using Facebook is the unlimited connectivity. You can follow celebrities, join groups, and voice your opinion. Privacy is a big thing, sometimes you can't have it because of scammers trying to get your personal information. Once you post something online it is there for anyone to see, so always check your privacy settings as they change often. CitrusBits (2022, December 23). Facebook pros connectivity. https://citrusbits.com/pros-and-cons-of-facebook/ -
Facebook today
Facebook allows us to be closer to family and friends but also allows us to find friends we went to school with 20+ years ago. Every day you can look at your memories and see things you've posted in the past, and maybe remember its someones birthday or anniversary. Facebook has become one of the biggest platforms for businesses.