Facebook is a widely-used social media app that is available for iOS and iPadOS. It can also be accessed through a web browser by desktop or laptop computers. Account registration is required for access.
History[]
In 2003, Harvard University student Mark Zuckerberg created a website called Facemash that gathered feedback on whether photos of fellow students were "hot or not". This brought Zuckerberg under the scrutiny of university administrators for unauthorized breach of privacy of the other students. The administration elected not to expel Zuckerberg, but forced him to take down the website.[1]
Facebook headquarters sign - Sun Microsystems logo
Zuckerberg then collaborated with classmates Chris Hughes, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Eduardo Saverin to co-found and launch TheFacebook on February 4, 2004 at Harvard College for undergraduate students only. The name was soon shortened to "Facebook" and the limitation to college students was lifted in 2006.[2] The Facebook app for iPhone OS 2 (later iOS) was first released on July 10, 2008.[3][4] By 2010, Facebook surpassed Google as the most visited internet site in some countries.[5] In 2011, Facebook relocated to the former headquarters of Sun Microsystems, which had itself been acquired by Oracle Corporation.[6] Sun's logo was kept and moved to the back of the campus sign as a cautionary warning against complacency.[7]
Privacy issues[]
In September 2012, Apple introduced the ability for users to share content with Facebook from devices running iOS 6 or Mac OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion).[8] Privacy concerns over how user data was being used led Apple to remove Facebook integration from iOS 11 in 2017, and macOS Mojave (10.14) in 2018.[9][10] However, it remained the third most visited site in the world in February 2021, behind Google and YouTube.[11]
A meme from Airplane! that was trending on Twitter while Facebook was down.
On October 4, 2021, the entire Facebook system, including its subsidiaries Instagram and WhatsApp were taken offline by an internal outage while its stock lost tens of billions of dollars in market value.[12] Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey inquired about buying the facebook.com domain.[13] In February 2022, Facebook's parent company Meta Platforms lost several hundreds of billions in market value after posting disappointing earnings reports, citing growing competition from TikTok, along with ten billion dollars in lost annual revenue due to anti-tracking and privacy features introduced by Apple.[14][15] Facebook subsequently noted the "iOS changes" as a leading cause of its "massive" hiring freeze, after a 40% loss in market value.[16] However, its lower market cap may allow it to fall below the threshold of United States antitrust law.[17]
Metaverse[]
Facebook had changed its name to Meta Platforms in October 2021 in preparation of launching a "metaverse". Meta criticized Apple for its 30% commission on App Store sales, even though Apple was charging most developers only 15%. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg pledged to charge less than the 30% cut taken by other platforms in 2021.[18] However, in April 2022, Meta subsidiary Horizon Worlds confirmed that the Meta Quest Store would be charging fees of up to 47.5% for VR apps and games. Despite criticism for its "hypocrisy", Vivek Sharma, Meta's VP of its Horizon Worlds subsidiary, called the fees "competitive", stating that "We believe in the other platforms being able to have their share."[19][20]
Media portrayals[]
The rise of Facebook and the interactions between its founding members were depicted in the 2010 film dramatization The Social Network, which was written by Aaron Sorkin, who also adapted the 2015 film Steve Jobs.[21][22]
System requirements[]
As of October 2022, the minimum requirements for the various versions of the Facebook app are:
References[]
- ↑ Facemash Creator Survives Ad Board by Katharine A. Kaplan, The Harvard Crimson. 2003-11-19.
- ↑ 'The Social Network': When was Facebook created? How long did it take to create Facebook? by Mythili Devarakonda, USA Today. 2022-07-25.
- ↑ Facebook by Meta Platforms, AppAdvice. 2022-02-02.
- ↑ Facebook For iPhone Application Launches, Adweek. 2008-07-10.
- ↑ Facebook topples Google as internet’s most visited site by Sean Si, SEO-Hacker. 2010-06-10.
- ↑ Facebook Makes It Official: We Bought The Old Sun Campus In Menlo Park (And Don’t Forget We’re Hiring!) by Alexia Tsotsis, TechCrunch. 2011-02-08.
- ↑ Oracle to Buy Sun, Sun Microsystems]. 2009-04-20. Archived 2009-04-23.
- ↑ Apple releases OS X 10.8.2 with Facebook integration, Save As improvements, more by Lex Friedman, Macworld. 2012-09-19.
- ↑ Apple Nixes Facebook and Twitter Integration in iOS 11 by Juli Clover, MacRumors. 2017-06-05.
- ↑ Apple strips Facebook & Twitter integration from macOS Mojave by Roger Fingas, AppleInsider. 2018-06-06.
- ↑ Google, YouTube, Facebook Are the Most Visited Websites in the World by Daniyal Malik, Digital Information World. 2021-02-04.
- ↑ Facebook stock falls as global outage continues by Lucas Matney, TechCrunch. 2021-10-04.
- ↑ how much? by Jack Dorsey, Twitter. 2021-10-04.
- ↑ Facebook Parent Meta’s Stock Continues Freefall, With Another 5% Drop on Monday by Antoinette Siu, The Wrap. 2022-02-07.
- ↑ Facebook says Apple iOS privacy change will result in $10 billion revenue hit this year by Kif Leswing, CNBC. 2022-02-03.
- ↑ ‘Massive’ Facebook hiring freeze and 40% decline in stock price is partly Apple’s fault, says CFO by Ben Lovejoy, 9to5Mac. 2022-05-05.
- ↑ Facebook market cap falls below $600 billion — which could actually help it dodge new antitrust scrutiny by Lauren Feiner, CNBC, 2022-02-08.
- ↑ Apple calls out Meta for hypocrisy over its almost 50% cut on metaverse content by Ben LoveJoy, 9to5Mac. 2022-04-14.
- ↑ Apple Says Plan for Nearly 50% Commission on Metaverse Purchases 'Lays Bare Meta's Hypocrisy' by Sami Fathi, MacRumors. 2022-04-14.
- ↑ Meta plans to take a nearly 50% cut on virtual asset sales in its metaverse by Sam L. Shead, CNBC. 2022-04-13.
- ↑ The Social Network (2010): Full Cast & Crew, Internet Movie Database. Accessed 2022-10-11.
- ↑ Steve Jobs (2015): Full Cast & Crew, Internet Movie Database. Accessed 2020-02-09.
