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Business > Companies > Facebook, Inc.
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Facebook
Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press, Via Associated Press
Updated: May 12, 2011
Facebook, the world's largest social network, announced in July 2010 that it had 500 million users around the world. The company has grown at a meteoric pace, doubling in size since 2009 and pushing international competitors aside. Its policies, more than those of any other company, are helping to define standards for privacy in the Internet age.
The company, founded in 2004 by a Harvard sophomore, Mark Zuckerberg, began life catering first to Harvard students and then to all high school and college students. It has since evolved into a broadly popular online destination used by both teenagers and adults of all ages. In country after country, Facebook is cementing itself as the leader and often displacing other social networks, much as it outflanked MySpace in the United States.
But it has also come to be seen as one of the new titans of the Internet, challenging even Google with a vision of a Web tied together through personal relationships and recommendations, rather than by search algorithms. In a major expansion, Facebook has spread itself across other Web sites by offering members the chance to "Like'' something — share it with their network — without leaving the Web page they're on.
In November 2010, Mr. Zuckerberg introduced Facebook Messages, a new unified messaging system that allows people to communicate with one another on the Web and on mobile phones regardless of whether they are using e-mail, text messages or online chat services.
The company raised $500 million from Goldman Sachs and a Russian investor in January 2011 in a deal that values the company at $50 billion — more than companies like eBay, Yahoo and Time Warner. The stake by Goldman Sachs, considered one of Wall Street’s savviest investors, signals the increasing might of Facebook, which has already been bearing down on giants like Google.
Facebook has increasingly been seen as the only company to pose a threat to Google, which has used its dominant position in search and online ad placement to expand into most corners of the Web. But as a closed network, Facebook's oceans of content are out of the reach of Google's search engines, and some analysts think the personal recommendations made through Facebook networks could become a rival to the algorithm-based results pioneered by Google.
In one sign of how much Facebook regards Google as a competitor, The Daily Beast reported that in May 2011 Facebook had hired a public relations firm to persuade reporters and privacy advocates to write stories critical of a new Google service, Social Circles.
Privacy is a sore subject for Facebook, which has made a series of stumbles on the subject. With the potential for legal and regulatory clashes growing along with its influence, the company has layered its executive, legal, policy and communications ranks with high-powered politicos from both parties, beefing up its firepower for future battles in Washington and beyond.
Read More...
ARTICLES ABOUT FACEBOOK
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Facebook Is Developing Ways to Share Media
By BEN SISARIO and MIGUEL HELFT
Facebook is in talks with music services to make a tab to display a user’s top songs and to give friends an easy way to hear them.
May 26, 2011
MORE ON FACEBOOK AND: COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET, SOCIAL NETWORKING (INTERNET), MUSIC, SPOTIFY, ZUCKERBERG, MARK E
Facebook Taps Joel Kaplan to Head Washington Office
By EVELYN M. RUSLI and PETER LATTMAN
The move is a coup for Facebook, which is trying to increase its influence in the capital, and a setback for the private-equity-owned Energy Future Holdings.
May 26, 2011
MORE ON FACEBOOK AND: Washington (DC), Facebook.com, Burr, Richard M, Bush, George W, Kaplan, Joel D, Luttig, J Michael, Sandberg, Sheryl, Scalia, Antonin, Ullyot, Ted
Finding the Next Mark Zuckerberg
By EVELYN M. RUSLI
Peter Thiel, a venture capitalist, announced the fellows for his nonprofit initiative, which gives students $100,000 to drop out of college and pursue their interests.
May 25, 2011
MORE ON FACEBOOK AND: Computers and the Internet, Mount Kilimanjaro (Tanzania), Facebook.com, Harvard University, Stanford University, Zuckerberg, Mark E
Consider Profits When Assessing I.P.O.’s
By ROBERT CYRAN and CHRISTOPHER SWANN
Across the board, valuations seem to be pinned on every company becoming a Google in its market, but there are relatively few consistent winners.
May 24, 2011
MORE ON FACEBOOK AND: OIL (PETROLEUM) AND GASOLINE, COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET, INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERINGS, SOCIAL NETWORKING (INTERNET), CONOCOPHILLIPS, TWITTER, EL PASO CORP, YANDEX
Army Seeks Recruits Via Social Media - Advertising
By STUART ELLIOTT
The United States Army is branching out into Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube with its “Army Strong” promotion to attract recruits.
May 24, 2011
MORE ON FACEBOOK AND: UNITED STATES DEFENSE AND MILITARY FORCES, DRAFT AND RECRUITMENT (MILITARY), SOCIAL NETWORKING (INTERNET), YOUTUBE.COM, TWITTER, FLICKR, UNITED STATES ARMY
Syria Cracks Down on Social Media
By JENNIFER PRESTON
The government is sharply limiting the ability of dissidents to communicate and upload videos of protests, according to several activists in Syria.
May 22, 2011
MORE ON FACEBOOK AND: DEMONSTRATIONS, PROTESTS, AND RIOTS, MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA UNREST (2010- ), SOCIAL NETWORKING (INTERNET), SYRIA, YOUTUBE.COM, TWITTER, ASSAD, BASHAR AL-
Valuing LinkedIn and Social Networking
By DEALBOOK
How LinkedIn compares to other big Internet names like Facebook and Google.
May 20, 2011
MORE ON FACEBOOK AND: Social Networking (Internet), Facebook.com, Google Inc, LinkedIn, New York Stock Exchange
LinkedIn's Surge Sets Stage for More Internet I.P.O.'s
By EVELYN M. RUSLI
LinkedIn's stock more than doubled, raising expectations that other offerings for companies like Facebook and Groupon will also do well.
May 20, 2011
MORE ON FACEBOOK AND: Initial Public Offerings, Social Networking (Internet), Facebook.com, Groupon, LinkedIn
Does Facebook Help or Hinder Offline Friendships?
By JENNA WORTHAM
Are social networks like Facebook and Twitter enhancing our real-world relationships? Or causing them to decay?
May 19, 2011
MORE ON FACEBOOK AND: Computers and the Internet, Social Networking (Internet), Facebook.com
Facebook Tributes, R.I.P.: Social Q’s
Facebook Tributes, R.I.P.: Social Q’s
By PHILIP GALANES
Trending now on social media: how to deal with dead Facebook friends.
May 19, 2011
MORE ON FACEBOOK AND: CUSTOMS, ETIQUETTE AND MANNERS, DEATH AND DYING, SOCIAL NETWORKING (INTERNET)
Facebook Devalues Birthday Greetings: Noticed
Facebook Devalues Birthday Greetings: Noticed
By AIMEE LEE BALL
Facebook makes it easy to remember birthdays, but does it count as much now?
May 19, 2011
MORE ON FACEBOOK AND: BIRTHDAYS
Finding Family History Through Social Networks
Finding Family History Through Social Networks
By MICKEY MEECE
Genealogy Web sites and social networks are making it easier than ever to trace family heritage.
May 19, 2011
MORE ON FACEBOOK AND: COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES, GENEALOGY, SOCIAL NETWORKING (INTERNET), COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET, TWITTER, ANCESTRY.COM
In Silicon Valley, Buying Companies for Their Engineers
In Silicon Valley, Buying Companies for Their Engineers
By MIGUEL HELFT
Some companies want talent so badly, they buy start-ups for their employees and then jettison the products.
May 18, 2011
MORE ON FACEBOOK AND: START-UPS, MERGERS, ACQUISITIONS AND DIVESTITURES, HIRING AND PROMOTION, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, LABOR AND JOBS, COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET, SILICON VALLEY (CALIF), ZYNGA, FACEBOOK INC, GOOGLE INC
LinkedIn Raises I.P.O. Goal to More Than $405 Million
By DEALBOOK
With investor demand surging for social media companies, LinkedIn said it planned to sell as much as 9 million shares at $42 to $45 apiece, more than 30 percent above previous expectations.
May 17, 2011
MORE ON FACEBOOK AND: Initial Public Offerings, Social Networking (Internet), Facebook.com, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Groupon, LinkedIn, New York Stock Exchange
Higher I.P.O. Price Values LinkedIn at $4.3 Billion
By EVELYN M. RUSLI
LinkedIn is poised to make its closely watched stock market debut on Thursday. Who's next among the social media darlings?
May 17, 2011
MORE ON FACEBOOK AND: Social Networking (Internet), Facebook.com, Groupon, LinkedIn, Twitter, Hoffman, Reid
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Facebook
A list of resources from around the Web about Facebook as selected by researchers and editors of The New York Times.
About Facebook
Facebook Pressroom
Other Coverage
The High-stakes Battle for Your Friends
Fortune, Nov 22, 2007.
Facebook Grows Up
Newsweek, Aug. 20, 2007.
The Future of Facebook
Time, July 17, 2007.
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