20 Eye-opening statistics for 20 years of Facebook

Since Facebook was founded in 2004, the platform has developed from a college networking site into a tech titan, leading the way for social media and how we communicate online. It even plays a key role in paid social strategies growing businesses and connecting them with new audiences.  Now part of Meta Platforms Inc., this blog explores 20 statistics about Facebook’s growth and the influence it has had over the last 20 years.

Stats on the history and growth of Facebook

1. Facebook was founded by Harvard sophomore, Mark Zuckerberg, and launched as “The Facebook” on 4th February 2004. The platform was designed exclusively to connect Harvard undergraduates. By the next day, over one thousand people had signed up to the platform.
2. As we know from watching the film “The Social Network” user growth didn’t stop at Harvard. TheFacebook expanded into other universities and had reached one million active users by the end of 2004.
3. By the summer of 2012, Facebook was the first online platform of its kind to reach 1 billion monthly active users.
4. Facebook ads launched in 2007 allowing businesses to create targeted ad campaigns to reach specific demographics of users on the platform.
5. Facebook went public in May 2012 with an initial valuation of 104 billion dollars, making it one of the largest tech IPOs in history, cementing its place as a major economic force.
6. Facebook started its acquisition journey by buying Instagram in April 2012 for 1 billion dollars.  
7. Facebook’s largest acquisition has been on the Messaging platform WhatsApp for 19 billion dollars in February 2015.
8. It’s predicted that by 2027 Facebook will reach 75% of the world’s population. 

Stats on the use of Facebook

1. Facebook is a truly mobile company with 94% of ad revenue coming from mobile users.
2. Today Facebook is the 3rd most visited website following Google and YouTube. And closely behind is its sister platform Instagram.
3. Out of the 3.065 billion monthly active users, 2.1 billion people use the platform daily.
4. One survey found that 59% of Facebook users have reached out to a brand on the platform. 
5. Users spend an average of 23 minutes on Facebook every day. 
6. Out of the estimated UK population of 69.19 million, approximately 37.45 million people are active Facebook users. 
7. Facebook Marketplace has 1.1 billion users every month.
8. Facebook users watch up to 100 million hours of video content on the platform every day, however live streams are the most popular format with 3 times longer watch time than prerecorded videos.
9. Videos originally posted on Facebook have 10 times the potential reach of other video sites like YouTube.
10. The average CPC of Facebook Ads across all industries is 0.42 dollars.
11. Facebook ads see an average conversion rate of 8.25% across all industries.
12. The best traffic times on Facebook are weekdays between 9 am and 3 pm, which is where posts see the most engagement.

Over the past 20 years, Facebook has transformed from a simple social network into a global tech giant, profoundly impacting communication, business and culture. As captured through these statistics the platform’s journey reflects immense success and an ability to evolve over time. As Facebook navigates its future, its growth and evolution have cemented its place in all of our lives and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Not seeing the success you’d like on Facebook? Get in touch with our team of paid social experts who can help you grow your business with the social platform.

More information on Facebook

• Facebook advertising
• The difference between Facebook ads and Google ads
• Five game-changing Facebook ad targeting strategies