Looking back at 20 years of Facebook development

Facebook is testing a new Friends tab, which Mark Zuckerberg calls “phase one of bringing back the original Facebook.” The Facebook News Feed has undergone many changes in the two decades since it was launched in 2004.

Thefacebook's first interface in 2004

This is what Thefacebook looked like in 2004. At the time, the social network was only available to students at Harvard University, where Zuckerberg was a student. He later dropped out to focus full-time on his “brainchild.”

Facebook launched the news feed in 2006.

Facebook launched its news feed in 2006 and was met with resistance from many users, contrary to the expectations of company employees. They even called for a boycott of the new interface. Faced with a wave of negative reactions, Zuckerberg had to "take the stage" and affirm that he would listen and accept everyone's opinions to continue improving the product.

Facebook introduced real-time news feed in 2009

In 2009, Facebook introduced a real-time news feed to compete with Twitter. Previously, it took a while for you to see updates from people, but the real-time news feed updates as soon as they post new posts.

The ticker feature appeared in 2011.

The notification feature (ticker) appeared in 2011, letting you know all the updates about your friends' posts, likes, comments, shares, check-ins... It was on the right side of the screen but has now been removed.

“Sponsored” ads began appearing on news feeds in 2012.

Facebook News Feed “Makeover” in 2013

Facebook’s newsfeed got a makeover in 2013, when Zuckerberg said he wanted to “bring the world’s best personalized newspaper to everyone.” The most notable change was that multiple newsfeeds appeared together, organized by topics like news, music, photos, videos, events, and more. Photos and videos were also displayed larger and more frequently. Facebook also focused on mobile, so that the newsfeed looked the same on both phones and desktops.

Facebook Introduces More Reactions Beyond the “Like” Button in 2016

In 2016, Facebook updated its news feed to show posts from friends and family higher up. That same year, the company introduced more reaction options beyond the “like” button.

Facebook adds filters in 2021

In 2021, Facebook added filters to help users customize their feeds, sorting content algorithmically, chronologically, or by a list of preferred friends. That same year, Facebook changed its name to Meta.

Facebook has removed the word “news” from the News Feed in 2022.

In 2022, Facebook dropped the word “news” from its News Feed. While it didn’t change much in terms of the interface, it marked a major shift in how Facebook wanted users to view their feeds. A spokesperson said it reflected the diversity of content people saw in their feeds. The move came as Facebook sought to show less political content.

In 2025, Zuckerberg says Facebook will add a new “Friends” tab

In 2025, Zuckerberg said Facebook would add a new “Friends” tab that would show content entirely from friends, without any recommendations. The feature is currently available in the US and Canada. In the announcement, Meta emphasized that “connecting with friends has been a part of Facebook since its inception.”

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/nhin-lai-20-nam-phat-trien-cua-facebook-309484.html