Facebook: the social network celebrates its 20th anniversary

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For the past three years, the media have been predicting that the social network would close its doors in the next few years. We've played a full part in this death proclamation. But let's face it: we've all been fooled. Facebook doesn't seem to have decided to lay down its arms. Quite the opposite, in fact, as it continues to attract new users.

Facebook celebrates its twentieth anniversary

From a simple community project developed at Harvard, Facebook has become a legend. The founding father of social networking has completely defined our current virtual communication habits. Now used by half the world's population, Facebook boasts almost 3 billion users. This figure is all the more impressive when you consider that Meta applications are not available in China, which removes a target of 1.4 billion people.

Facebook in 2024: less used?

It's clear that Gen Z has completely turned away from Facebook, in favor of platforms more in tune with their needs for speed and viral content, such as TikTok or Instagram. However, despite some difficulties in keeping up with the algorithmic trends of its competitors, Facebook was able to turn things around in 2023. This is evidenced by Meta's latest statistics, which show that users are spending more time on Facebook than in 2022, thanks in particular to the recent addition of AI to the platform. By becoming an entertainment social network and no longer a community application, Facebook is easily playing with today's codes, and gradually clawing back the slope it had tumbled down until then.

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What new features can we expect from Facebook?

In 2024, Facebook will, not surprisingly, continue to push ahead with the development of its artificial intelligence tools. In an interview last year, Mark Zuckerberg explained that he wanted to give Facebook users all the resources they needed to "create more". If AI is a good way of attracting more Internet users to Facebook, the algorithm changes already undertaken will also weigh heavily in the balance. Like its competitors, Facebook wants to go further in proposing content to its users. By analyzing your tastes and content consumption habits, Facebook is improving the choice of posts it pushes into your News Feed.

Facebook is 20 years old, and while that doesn't make us any younger, we're delighted to see it confirm its place as the game's leader.