Facebook at 20: Four ways di app change di world

Look at di foto wey dey up. Dis na how Facebook, or The Facebook as dem dey call am dat time, bin look like wen Mark Zuckerberg and some of im friends launch am from dia student dormitory 20 years ago.

Since den, di world most popular social network don dey redesigned plenty times.

But im aim still be di same: to connect pipo online. And make plenti money from adverts.

As di platform turn 20, here na four ways wey Facebook don change di world.

1. Facebook change di social media game

Oda social networks, such as MySpace, bin dey exist bifor Facebook - but Mark Zuckerberg site blow instantly wen e launch for 2004, proving how fast online site like dis fit dey accepted.

For less dan one year, Facebook get one million users, and within four years e don overtake MySpace - and wetin ginger am na innovations such as pipo fit 'tag' oda pipo for foto.

To take digital camera comot for night, den 'tag' your friends for plenti foto, na staple of teenage life for di late noughties. Di activity feed wey dey always change na anoda big tin wey bin dey draw early users.

By 2012, Facebook don surpass one billion users a month and, aside from a brief blip for di end of 2021 - wen daily active users bin drop for di first time to 1.92 billion, di platform continue to dey grow.

As e dey expand into kontris wey no too dey connected, and as e dey offer free internet, di company don maintain and increase di number of Facebook users, so much so dat by di end of 2023, Facebook report say e get more dan two billion daily users.

Na true say Facebook dey less popular dan e dey bifor wit young pipo, but e still be di most popular social network for di world, and e usher in a new era of social activity online.

Some pipo dey see Facebook and im rivals as tools wey dey empower connectivity, but odas dey see dem as addictive agents of destruction.

2. Facebook make our personal data valuable… and less personal

Facebook prove say collecting our likes and dislikes dey extremely lucrative.

Nowadays, Facebook parent-company, Meta, na ogbonge advertising company wey, alongside odas like Google, dey take di lion share for global advertising money.

Meta revenue for di third-quarter of 2023 nearly reach $34bn (£26.7bn), wey majorly come from giving advertisers beta ad services; $11.5bn na im be dia profit for inside.

But Facebook don also show where data collection fit go wrong.

Dem don fine Meta plenty times for mishandling personal data.

Di one wey dey more popular na di Cambridge Analytica scandal for 2014, wey make Facebook pay $725m (£600m) to settle court gbese sake of significant data breach.

For 2022, Facebook also pay €265m (£228m) EU fine as e allow make pipo fit extract personal data from di site.

And last year, di Irish Data Protection Commission bin sama Facebook wit a record €1.2bn fine, for transferring data of European users comot di jurisdiction. Facebook dey appeal di fine currently.

3. Facebook make di internet political

As e dey offer targeted advertising, Facebook don become a major platform for election campaign around di world.

For example, five months to di US presidential election of 2020, President Donald Trump team spend more dan $40m on Facebook adverts, according to Statista research.

Facebook don get hand in changing grassroots politics too - as e dey enable groups of users wey no get anytin in common to gada, campaign and plan action on a global scale.

Facebook and Twitter bin dey veri crucial during di Arab Spring as pipo use dem to coordinate protests and spread news about wetin dey happun on di ground.

But pipo don criticise Facebook as wetin pipo dey use for political ends becos of some of im consequences, wey include impact on human rights. For 2018, Facebook agree wit a UN report wey tok say e fail to prevent pipo wey dey use di platform to "incite offline violence" against Rohingya pipo for Myanmar.

4. Facebook na im start Meta dominance.

Wit di huge success of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg build a social network and technology empire wey still dey unprecedented in terms of users and im consequent power.

Zuckerberg buy upcoming companies, including WhatsApp, Instagram and Oculus, and add dem under di umbrella company Facebook, wey later change im name to Meta for 2021.

Meta now tok say more dan three billion pipo use at least one of im products evriday.

And wen e no fit buy im rivals, pipo don accuse Meta of copying dem - so di company go still dey maintain im dominance.

Di disappearing Stories feature wey dey Facebook and Instagram na key feature for Snapchat; Instagram Reels na di answer to di challenge by video-sharing app TikTok; and Threads na Meta attempt to imitate X, formerly known as Twitter.

Tactics don dey more important dan ever as competition dey increase and regulation dey become more strict.

For 2022, Meta dey forced to sell GIF-maker Giphy at a loss afta UK regulators block am from owning di service due to fear say e go become over-dominant for di market.

Di next 20 years?

Facebook rise and continued dominance na testament say Mark Zuckerberg get ability to keep di site relevant.

But for am to maintain im crown as di most popular social network go be a monumental challenge over di next 20 years.

Now, Meta dey push heavily towards building im business around di idea of di Metaverse, arguably leading di way over rival tech giants such as Apple.

Artificial intelligence na also big priority for Meta.

So, as di company dey move further away from im Facebook roots, e go dey interesting to see wetin di future hold for dis blue app wey dey evriwia.

Additional reporting by Iman Mohammed

Main image by: Niall Kennedy