For research more than anything I thought it would be interesting to have a look back at facebook in 2005. Below are two interviews with Mark Zuckerberg at the time, one from Stanford is very detailed, plus profiles images taken from that year and statistics on how the website was growing.
Facebook in 2005: Statistics
These were very early days for the social network and few would have imagined it’s continued rapid growth world wide.
Facebook started 2005 with 1 million users
In February Facebook celebrated it’s first birthday
85% of college students were using Facebook by mid 2005
In September high school students were allowed to join
The company was estimated to be valued at $100 million
By Septemeber there were 3.75 million college users
60% of users logged on daily, 85% weekly and 93% monthly
International expansion was well under way (see the 1st clip below)
By the end of the year Facebook had reached 5 million users
Facebook in 2005: Profile Images
Profiles also looked a bit more static and boring, as you can see below. The ‘The’ was dropped in 2004, but I have a feeling it was still in use in early 2005. More images from 2005-2009 can be seen here.
Facebook in 2005: Mark Zuckerberg Interview
This first interview was recorded in June 2005. In it Mark speaks openly about the growth of Facebook and how it was beginning to reach Europe, long before any Europeans could set up a profile on it. At the time it was only open to students of around 800 US colleges.
Facebook in 2005: From Harvard to Facebook Interview
This video clip is the first of nine recorded at an Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Lecture given in October 2005 at Stanford University. All nine parts can be found here.