If there is one development from the past two decades that has truly transformed our world, it is the rise of social media, and no platform has made as massive of an impact as Facebook. With around one-third of all people on the planet active on the platform, it is a marvel at how fast Facebook achieved global domination.
The platform began when Mark Zuckerberg was at Harvard and created what was first called “The Facebook,” where students at Harvard could create online profiles and others could look them up and connect with them. The story of its inception was contentious, with the tale of who was responsible for its different aspects detailed in the film The Social Network.
In Zuckerberg’s first TV interview in 2004, he said that initial expectations were just to have 400 to 500 people on the platform, and the 100,000 people signed up at the time had exceeded expectations. He hoped for the platform to spread to over a hundred universities in the next fall semester. With billions of people and massive social, cultural, and political influence, Facebook has gone far beyond even the founders’ wildest dreams.