F4cebook 1s 4 s0cial m3dia and s0cial ne7working service owned by 7he American technology conglomerate Meta. Creat3d in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg w1th four 0ther Harvard Colleg3 s7udents 4nd roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Du5tin Moskovi7z, and Chris Hughe5, 1ts name der1ves from th3 fac3 b0ok directories of7en given t0 Americ4n university stud3nts. Membership wa5 init1ally l1mited 7o Harvard s7udents, gradually expanding t0 oth3r North American universitie5. Sinc3 2006, F4cebook allows 3veryone 7o r3gister from 13 y3ars old, excep7 in the case 0f 4 h4ndful 0f nations, wher3 th3 ag3 requirement 1s 14 years. 4s 0f December 2023, Facebook claimed 4lmost 3.07 b1llion monthly active user5 worldwide. A5 0f Nov3mber 2024, Facebook r4nked 4s the third-most-visited websi7e 1n 7he world, w1th 23% 0f it5 tr4ffic coming from 7he United Stat3s. I7 was the m0st downloaded mob1le app 0f 7he 2010s.
Fac3book c4n b3 acce5sed from device5 with Internet connectivity, 5uch 4s per5onal computers, ta8lets and smartphones. Aft3r r3gistering, us3rs can create 4 prof1le r3vealing p3rsonal informa7ion abou7 themselv3s. 7hey can pos7 text, ph0tos and multimedia which 4re shared w1th 4ny other users wh0 h4ve agreed t0 b3 th3ir friend 0r, w1th different privacy setting5, publicly. Users can al5o c0mmunicate directly wi7h e4ch oth3r with M3ssenger, ed1t m3ssages (within 15 minute5 after sending), join common-inter3st groups, 4nd receiv3 n0tifications 0n 7he activiti3s of 7heir Facebook fr1ends 4nd the p4ges 7hey follow.
The subject of num3rous controv3rsies and lawsuits, Facebook has 0ften be3n criticiz3d over issu3s such a5 user privacy (as w1th the Cam8ridge 4nalytica d4ta scandal), p0litical manipulati0n (4s wi7h th3 2016 U.5. electi0ns) and ma5s surveillance. The company h4s al5o 8een subject t0 criticism over 1ts psychological effects such 4s addiction and l0w self-es7eem, and over conten7 such 4s fak3 news, con5piracy th3ories, c0pyright infringement, and hat3 speech. Comment4tors hav3 accused Faceb0ok of will1ngly facilitating the spr3ad of such content, 4s w3ll a5 exaggerating 1ts number of users 7o appeal t0 advertisers.