Facebook has been around long enough that many of its current users were not yet online when it launched, and its story runs from a single dorm room website to one of the largest companies in the world. Here is a quick history of how it got there.
2004: The beginning
Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook, originally called “Thefacebook”, on February 4, 2004, from his dorm room at Harvard University, initially limited to Harvard students with a valid university email address. The idea grew out of earlier, smaller projects Zuckerberg had built on campus, and the site’s early appeal was largely its exclusivity, only verified students could join at first.
2005 to 2006: Expansion
Facebook expanded to more universities, then high schools, then workplaces, gradually widening who could join before opening to anyone aged 13 or older with a valid email address in September 2006. This period also saw the introduction of the News Feed, initially controversial among users but eventually becoming the platform’s defining feature.
2012: Going public
Facebook, Inc. went public on the stock market in May 2012, one of the largest technology IPOs at the time, and a major turning point that shifted the company from a fast-growing startup into a publicly accountable corporation with quarterly earnings reports.
The years of acquisitions
Between 2012 and the following decade, Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014, two of the largest acquisitions in tech history at the time, which is why all three apps now sit under the same parent company today.
2021: Becoming Meta
In October 2021, the parent company renamed itself Meta Platforms, Inc., reflecting a broader focus beyond the original Facebook app, particularly around virtual and augmented reality, while Facebook itself continued operating as one of Meta’s core products rather than being replaced or discontinued.
Facebook today
More than two decades after launching from a Harvard dorm room, Facebook remains one of the largest social platforms in the world, reporting more than 3 billion monthly active users. Learn more about who owns Facebook today and how many people use it in our knowledge base.
Frequently asked questions
How old is Facebook?
Facebook launched on February 4, 2004, making it more than two decades old.
Was Facebook always called Facebook?
It launched as “Thefacebook” before dropping “The” from the name in 2005.
Who founded Facebook?
Mark Zuckerberg, along with fellow Harvard students Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes.