Type of business | Public |
---|---|
Type of site
|
Social networking service |
Available in | Multilingual (140) |
Traded as | |
Founded | February 4, 2004 |
Headquarters | Menlo Park, California, U.S. |
Coordinates | 37°29′05″N 122°08′54″W / 37.4848°N 122.1484°WCoordinates: 37°29′05″N 122°08′54″W / 37.4848°N 122.1484°W |
Area served | United States (2004–2005) Worldwide, except blocking countries (2005–present) |
Founder(s) | |
Key people | Mark Zuckerberg (Chairman and CEO) Sheryl Sandberg (COO) |
Industry | Internet |
Revenue | US$27.638 billion (2016) |
Operating income | US$12.427 billion (2016) |
Net income | US$10.217 billion (2016) |
Total assets | US$64.961 billion (2016) |
Total equity | US$59.194 billion (2016) |
Employees | 18,770 (March 31, 2017) |
Subsidiaries |
Instagram Messenger Oculus VR |
Website |
www www |
Alexa rank | 3 (April 2017[update]) |
Registration | Required |
Users | 2 billion monthly active users (June 2017) |
Current status | Active |
Written in | C++, PHP (as HHVM) and D language |
Facebook is an American for-profit corporation and an online social media and social networking service based in Menlo Park, California. The Facebook website was launched on February 4, 2004, by Mark Zuckerberg, along with fellow Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes.
The founders had initially limited the website's membership to Harvard students; however, later they expanded it to higher education institutions in the Boston area, the Ivy League schools, and Stanford University. Facebook gradually added support for students at various other universities, and eventually to high school students as well. Since 2006, anyone age 13 and older has been allowed to become a registered user of Facebook, though variations exist in the minimum age requirement, depending on applicable local laws. The Facebook name comes from the face book directories often given to United States university students.
Facebook may be accessed by a large range of desktops, laptops, tablet computers, and smartphones over the Internet and mobile networks. After registering to use the site, users can create a user profile indicating their name, occupation, schools attended and so on. Users can add other users as "friends", exchange messages, post status updates and digital photos, share digital videos and links, use various software applications ("apps"), and receive notifications when others update their profiles or make posts. Additionally, users may join common-interest user groups organized by workplace, school, hobbies or other topics, and categorize their friends into lists such as "People From Work" or "Close Friends". In groups, editors can pin posts to top. Additionally, users can complain about or block unpleasant people. Because of the large volume of data that users submit to the service, Facebook has come under scrutiny for its privacy policies. Facebook makes most of its revenue from advertisements which appear onscreen.