FACEBOOK AT 20

Facebook is the world's largest and best-known social networking and social media service. Based in the
American state of California, it claims to have more than 2.9 billion users. Facebook owns several other
companies.

On 4th September the company marked its 20th anniversary. Facebook was founded on 4th September.
Currently, the company's value, or worth, is US$1.2 trillion.

Mark Zuckerberg, one of the Facebook founders and the boss of Meta Platforms

Currently, Facebook is the world's seventh most valuable company. (Apple is number one. It is presently
worth US$2.9 trillion.) Facebook has achieved its 'sky-high' value in a remarkably short time. Yet, during its
20-year history, there have been several controversies. Most are related to how the company uses the vast
amount of data it gathers and whether the company should block, or restrict, access to certain information.

Mark Zuckerberg is Facebook's boss. He and several other students set up Facebook when they were at
university. At first, it was called 'The Facebook' and only the university students could use it. After they
registered, it was a 'place' where they could exchange posts and messages and create a network of 'friends'.
There were no adverts and the company made no money. By the end of its first year, the service had one
million users.

By this time, the company had attracted several wealthy investors or backers. Their money was used to pay
the company's workers. In 2006, Facebook expanded. Now anyone with an email address could join.
Advertising was introduced the following year. It gave businesses a new way of selling their services or
goods online. The advertising began to generate a huge stream of revenue (or money). The 'like' button
arrived in 2009.

In 2012, Facebook agreed to buy, or acquire, Instagram for US$1 billion. Then, Instagram offered a photo
and video-sharing social networking service. Many people were shocked at the billion-dollar price. Then,
Instagram had only 13 workers and did not make any money.

Soon after buying Instagram, Facebook held an initial public offering (IPO). A percentage of
Facebook's shares (or stocks) were sold to the public for the first time. This raised a large amount of money
that the company could invest in the business. After an IPO, a company's shares are listed on a stock
exchange. Then, they can be traded, or bought and sold, easily.

Facebook acquired WhatsApp in 2014. It paid US$19.5 billion for the smartphone messaging company. By
its tenth anniversary, Facebook had become a very successful company. In 2020, its total sales were roughly
US$86 billion. Net income (or profit) on these sales was US$29 billion.

In 2021, Mr Zuckerberg announced a rebranding. He said the Facebook brand no longer represented
everything that the company was now doing and its future plan. A new holding, or parent, company called
Meta (or Meta Platforms Inc) was created. As the parent company, Meta owns Facebook and its other
companies, such as Instagram and WhatsApp. Each of these companies now has its own management.

Mr Zuckerberg explained that the word 'meta' comes from an Ancient Greek word that means 'beyond'. It is
also part of 'metaverse'. At that time, some people, including Mr Zuckerberg, had begun to use the word
metaverse to describe how the internet might be used in the future.

The metaverse, Mr Zuckerberg says, is a 'virtual environment'. He believes that, in the future, instead of
looking at a screen, a person will be able to 'enter' virtual communities. There, Mr Zuckerberg predicts, they
will be able to meet, work or play. This will be done with the use of virtual reality (VR) headsets or glasses.
The Meta-owned Reality Labs makes VR software and VR headsets.

Mr Zuckerberg decided to invest huge sums of money in the metaverse. In 2019, Reality Labs had sales of
US$500 million but lost US$4.5 billion. Its annual losses continued to grow. Recently, Mr Zuckerberg has
admitted that it will take a long time for Reality Labs to make money.

In 2022, Mr Zuckerberg announced that 11,000 Meta workers (out of a total of 87,300) would be fired or
lose their jobs. Since then, Meta has made large profits. Yet, the majority of the money is still generated from
Facebook and Instagram adverts.

Facebook at 20

After you read the article, answer questions 1-8

1. What is Facebook and where is it based?

2. In 2021, why did Mark Zuckerberg announce a rebranding?

3. Who attended the Senate Judiciary Committee at the beginning of February?

4. According to Mr Zuckerberg, what is metaverse?

5. What is Reality Labs, and what does it make?

6. What are some of the companies that Meta owns?

7. What was ‘The Facebook’ and who could use it?

8. Currently, how much is Facebook worth, and which company is the world’s most valuable?

Find words for the following definitions (they’re all underlined in the article)

1. …Access…. Noun:
1 Opportunity to use

2 Permission to enter
2. Verb:
1 Got or obtained something so you now own it

2 Gained through experience

3. Noun:
A small group of people representing a larger organisation
4. Noun (Plural):
Groups of people or animals living in one place
5. Noun (Plural):
Things that are likely to cause arguments
6. Noun:
A marketplace where things are officially bought and sold

Verb:
Change one thing for something else
7. Verb:
1 To produce energy

2 To make, or create, something, a large number of things, or an amount

8. Noun:
Money received for work or from investments
9. Adjective:
Something that comes at the beginning; the first thing
10. Noun (Plural):
People who are willing to commit money to something with a plan to make a profit
11. Noun:
The court system or collective group of judges, justices and clerical staff
12. Verb:
1 Protected

2 Written down or recorded

3 Wrote down or mentioned the names of things, usually written down or printed
 one under the other
13. Noun:
Newspapers, magazines, radio broadcasts, television shows and the internet
considered as a group
14. Noun:
1 A group of people that know each other or have something in common

2 Large system that connects computers, or transmits radio and television

broadcasts

3 An interconnected transport, telephone or electrical system

4 System by which many similar things are joined together

15. Noun:
A promise, especially that you will tell the truth in a law court
16. Noun:
An amount expressed as a proportion of 100
17. Noun:
1 A raised level surface

2 What a political party promises to do if elected

3 The combination of a particular computer and a particular operating system

4 A formal document outlining an agreement or set of proposed rules

18. Noun (Plural):
The amount of money gained from doing business or selling something
19. Verb:
To keep within certain limits
20. Noun:
The upper house of the parliament of the United States of America, France and
certain other countries
21. Noun (Plural):
1 Necessary work or facilities provided by a system or organisation

2 Formal events or ceremonies

3 Skills that someone can offer to others

22. Noun:
Equal parts of a company into which its ownership is divided. Shares can be bought
and sold as an investment

Verb:
1 Divide food or money and give part of it to someone else

2 Have in common

3 To be given or awarded something jointly with someone else

23. Adjective:
 1 Describes the activity of spending time with others

2 Related to people living together in an organised way

24. Noun:
An organisation that provides a facility to buy and sell company stocks and shares
25. Adjective:
Describes something that has the appearance of being real, but is not