Facebook turned 8 this week and what a week it was. Not only did the social networking giant celebrate being one year older, but they filed a Form S-1 with the SEC in preparation for an IPO worth $5 billion! It’s been quite a journey, and with the company now estimated to be worth $100 billion it’s clearly been a successful one.
After Google, Facebook is the world’s most visited site, ever since that fateful launch in Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard University dorm room in 2004.
I’ve been on Facebook for 1,765 days and it stayed with me, like a loyal, albeit distracting, friend throughout my years at university. As the world’s largest social network, millions of people (845 million, to be exact) will reflect on the impact it has had on their lives over the past 8 years, whether they have been there from the beginning or were late starters, part of that reluctant non-conformist “I don’t need Facebook to have friends” group… we all knew one and we all watched as they eventually succumbed to the power of the blue thumbs up.
Facebook is such an integral part of people’s lives that relationships, marriages and divorces are all decided on whether they’re ready to go “Facebook Official” or not, a decision never to be taken lightly. Surnames change, become double barrelled and pictures of offspring, pets and growing families fill up our now nostalgia ridden timelines, and all the while our likes, dislikes and opinions are shared through the simplicity of the click of a ‘like’. Our mums became our friends and our friends became our stalkers. People now log onto Facebook every day, 42% of active users don’t leave bed without checking it and 100 billion friendships have been created in the process!
It now seems almost impossible to imagine life without witty status updates, friend requests, photo tags and relationship statuses. Facebook has transformed our generation into a team of digitally connected sharers who wear our hearts on our sleeves and aren’t afraid to show the world what we think.
Happy Birthday Facebook, and thanks for the memories.