Category Social Networking

Mar 27 2014

How Facebook Got Big

Facebook is really really big. By the end of 2013, Facebook boasted 1.23bn monthly active users worldwide, adding 170m in just one year. [1]

So, how did Facebook get so big?

  • People started using a social network with their Real Identities. (“X” is on Facebook!)
  • Real identities were rare in the pre-Facebook era.
  • How?
    • Limited Access in the initial stage
      • Facebook started out only with Harvard students (you were supposed to have a Harvard University issued E-mail address to open an account) [2]; then limited only to College students. So when it was opened for all, people got used to having real identities.
    • Privacy Options
      • Before Facebook came along, Myspace, Hi5 were as ‘public’ as possible.
      • With Facebook, you could control privacy according to your tastes and socialize only among selected few.
  • Facebook Platform
  • Viral spread of Apps and Games (and farming in Farmville).
  • Only social interactions would have bored many of the users.
  • Facebook is popular because you can connect with all the people you ever knew: your classmates, your long forgotten neighbours, colleagues – many of whom you met years back.

 

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