ABriefHistoryofTheFacebook

CharleneCroft December18,2007 InFebruary2004,MarkZuckerberg,withthehelpof AndrewMcCollumandEduardo Saverin,launchedawebsitethatwouldchangeonlinesocialinteractionforever.The FacebookstartedonthecampusofHarvardUniversity,wherethethreefriendswere students,Zuckerbergbeingapsychologymajorofallthings.Within24hoursofgoing live,TheFacebookwasacommunityof1200HarvardUniversity students. The FacebookbuzzgrewontheHarvardcampusandwithinweeksstudentsfromStanford andYalewantedin.ThenetworkwasextendedandbyApril2004,TheFacebookwas availableonallIvyLeagueservers. ButZuckerbergneededhelptogrowhislittlesocialnetworkingsitethatcould. He wouldnotstopuntilTheFacebookhadbeeninstalledonalluniversitycampusesin America. InMay 2004,only4monthsafterTheFacebookwasborn,hedroppedoutof HarvardandmovedtoSiliconValleywithMcCollumandDustinMoskovitz.In September2004,theysecuredventurecapitalfromPayPalfounderPeterThiel.The $500,000investmentwasastart,butZuckerbergandfriendshadbigplansforThe Facebook. SeeingthepotentialvalueinTheFacebook,JimBreyerandAccel Partners poniedup$12.7milliontoassistZuckerbergintheexpansionofhisvirtualempire. JimBreyerisaninterestingcharacterwithmanyhighlevelconnections.Heservedas chairfortheNationalVentureCapitalAssociation(NVCA)withGilmanLouie,whoalso happenedtobeCEOofQTel,aCIAestablishedventurecapitalfirm.Breyeralso currentlysitsontheBoardofDirectorsofWalMartStoresInc,inthecapacityof Lead/ PresidingIndependentDirector,andChairmanoftheStrategicPlanningandFinance Committee. Butwait,itgetsbetter.BreyeralsositsontheBoardof BBNTechnologies alongwithAnitaJones,who,alongwithLouie,satontheBoardofDirectorsofQTel. Previoustoenteringtheprivatesector,Jones,interestinglyenough heldthepositionof DirectorofDefenseResearchandEngineeringfortheU.S.DepartmentofDefensewhere shewasanadvisortotheSecretaryofDefenseandoversawtheDefenseAdvanced ResearchProjectsAgency(DARPA). Itshouldbenosurprisethen,thatBBNTechnologieshashadmanyresearchand developmentcontractswiththeNationalSecurityAgency(NSA)andDARPA. BBN Technologieshasbeenaroundforawhile,since1948infact,iftheircorporatetimelineis tobebelievedasaccurate. In1969,BBNTechnologieslaunchedARPANET, thefirst versionofthemoderndayInternet. In1982,BBNTechnologieswonthecontractto buildandoperatetheworldwideDefenseDataNetworkfortheDepartmentofDefense andin1984,theydevelopedthedataencryptionstandardsfortheNSA, DARPAandthe AirForce. Sincethen,theyveworkedonanumberofmilitaryanddefenseprojects,as wellaseducationalandvoicerecognitionsoftware,theyvewonawardsfromNASAand are,generally,thecompanythatprovidesthetechnologyandsupportwhichpowersthe

Internet. Amongotherthings,theycurrentlyofferdataminingsolutionsboasting,There hasneverbeensomuchinformationavailablesoeasily. Andwitha$13million investmentinthefastestgrowingSocialNetworkingSiteonline,theyareprobablyquite right. SobyOctober2004, Zuckerberghadthemoney,themanpower,andtheinstitutional backingtogoglobal.BetatestingcontinuedonwithintheAmericanUniversity populationforthenextyear,andinAugust2005,TheFacebookdroppedtheTheand Facebook.comwasregisteredfor$200,000. Thenetworkopenedup,andwithinmonths anyonewithavalidinstitutionalemailaddressfromover30,000organizationsacrossthe planetwereeligibleformembership,includinghighschoolstudents,government employeesandthecorporatecommunity. InSeptember2006,Facebookexpandedonceagain.Nowanyonewithavalidemail addresscouldsignupandpopulatetheirprofilewiththeirstats,andsignuptheydid. EvenafterabitofbadpresswiththeintroductionoftheNewsFeedfeature,whichwas labeledintrusiveandviewedasaviolationofprivacybymanyofitslongtimeusers, membershipcontinuedtogrow.Infact,betweenMay2006andMay2007Facebook trafficgrewbyanastonishing89%. FacebookremainedaclosednetworkuntilMay2007,whenZuckerbergannouncedthat FacebookwastobecomethesocialoperatingsystemfortheInternet.Upuntilthat time,theFacebookplatformwasforFacebookalone,butnow,userscouldintegrateallof theirInternetactivitiesintotheirsingleFacebookprofile.Developersquicklystartedto buildapplicationsforallthepopularsitesandusersstartedaddingtheminaneffort streamlinetheirvirtualidentities.Flickr,MySpace,iTunes,YouTube,del.ici.ous,and Digghadofficialapps,andusersstartedcreatingunofficialappsforthesesitesaswell. Plustherewasawholehostofindependentdeveloperscreatingquizzes,games,friend organizersandavarietyofprofilecustomizationappslikevirtualgardensandprofile picturesketches.CatBookandDogBookalloweduserstocreateprofilesfortheirpetsto networkwiththeirfriendspets,andHumanPetsalloweduserstobecomepets themselvesforotherusers. ThenextstepforFacebookwasdirectadvertising.InAugust2007Facebookannounced thatitwaslookingtotranslateitspopularityintobiggerprofitsbyofferingadvertisers directaccesstotheirtargeteddemographicconsumers.Indeed,ZuckerbergandCo.were certainlywithintheirrighttoexploitthepopularityofthephenomena,whynot? Whats thepointofofferingtheserviceandcollectingallthisdataifitcantbeusedtowards liningthecompanysshareholderspockets? AndifFacebookisntamassiveHomeland SecurityDatabase,assomehavespeculated,advertisingisalltheygot. AsaWallStreet Journalarticleputit,WhiletheWebsitehadroughly30.6millionvisitorsinJuly,the companysaysitneedstodoabetterjobprofitingfromitshugeuserbase. Andthroughitall,Zuckerbergstillplaystheroleofthedotcomdarling,presenting Facebookasalittleindependentstartupwhoisholdingoutagainstthebigcorporate

bullieslikeViacomandYahoo,despiteitstiestoAccelandSiliconValleyscorporate elite.