This article is about the social networking service. For the type of directory, see face book.

Facebook, Inc.

Screenshot [show]

Type of Public
business

Type of site Social networking service

Available in Multilingual (140)

Traded as
NASDAQ: FB

NASDAQ-100 Component

S&P 100 Component

S&P 500 Component

Founded February 4, 2004; 13 years ago

Headquarters Menlo Park, California, United States

Coordinates 37.4848N

122.1484WCoordinates: 37.4848N

122.1484W

Area served United States (200405)

Worldwide, except blocking countries (2005

present)

Founder(s)
Mark Zuckerberg
 Eduardo Saverin

Andrew McCollum

Dustin Moskovitz

Chris Hughes

Key people Mark Zuckerberg

(Chairman and CEO)

Sheryl Sandberg

(COO)

Industry Internet

Revenue US$27.638 billion (2016)[1]

Operating US$12.427 billion (2016)[1]

income

Net income US$10.217 billion (2016)[1]

Total assets US$64.961 billion (2016)[1]

Total equity US$59.194 billion (2016)[1]

Employees 17,048 (December 31, 2016)[2]

Subsidiaries Instagram

WhatsApp

Oculus VR

Website www.facebook.com or

www.fb.com

Alexa rank 3 (February 2017)[3]

Registration Required

Users 1.86 billion monthly active users

(December 31, 2016)[2]

Current status Active

Written in C++, PHP (as HHVM)[4] and D language[5]

Facebook (FB) is an American for-profit corporation and 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.[6][7][8]
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.[9] The Facebook name comes from the face book directories
often given to United States university students.[10]
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.