On February 4th, 2004 the world was introduced to perhaps the most pervasive social network of all time. Harvard University sophomore, Mark Zukerburg, was just 19 years old when he launched Harvard-only site, then called “TheFacebook.com”.
Over the last ten years we’ve seen Facebook transform from a small-scale, social community geared specifically towards collegiates, to a lifestyle; one that over 1.2 billion users have become accustomed to. In fact, if Facebook were a country it would be the 3rd largest in the world (that’s bigger than the United States!). Facebook has changed our lives and has inspired a new era of social interaction. It has alowed millions of people to connect with family, stay in touch with old friends and comunicate with organizations, consumers and employees. It has given us Instagram, and more friends that we could we ever imagine.
In ten years we have fought with the word “is”, so intrusively forced into each and every status update. We’ve sent virtual gifts (perhaps the first ever set of Emojis?) on birthdays and holidays (think: toilet paper roll, Valentine’s Day box of chocolates, scandolous thong, green haired Troll doll, and so much more). In ten years we’ve seen the rise and fall of the Facebook note and the “wall-to-wall” conversation tool (some may say “stalking” tool). We’ve been “poked” and “de-friended”, and have sent and recieved “Bumperstickers” in the Pinterest-esque, third party app. These Facebook Fossils have come and gone but one thing remains the same, despite it’s ify future, Facebook has inevitably changed our lives.
Feeling old yet? Here are a few other blasts from the pasts that are celebrating their 10th birthdays along side Facebook this year…
- The super-scandelous half-time show of Superbowl XXXVIII. Or maybe you’ll remember it better with an image…
- Outkast’s hit “Hey Ya!” was #1 on Billboards Top 100
- Butterfly Effect staring Ashton Kutcher (in his prime) was rated the Top Film in 2004
- Von Dutch trucker hats were all the rage
- K-Fed and Jason Alexander had their five-minutes of fame thanks to ’04 pop star and repeat-bride, Britney Spears
- Ross, Rachel, Joey, Chandler, Pheobe and Monica said their final goodbyes in the series finale of Friends
- Our very own St. Joseph’s University Men’s Basketball team celebrated a perfect season with an unforgettable 27 wins and 0 losses in the regular season, earning them a spot in the NCAA National Championship Tournament