In its early years, Facebook consisted entirely of college students. Unlike contemporaries Friendster and MySpace, which exhausted themselves to acquire as many users as possible from all ends of the Earth, Facebook operated more like a “secret society”, going so far as to require .edu e-mail addresses in order to join. And many of their users liked it that way, preferring Facebook’s exclusivity to the “the more the merrier” approach of other social networks.
The problem was that Facebook could only expand so much by catering to only college students. So despite much protest and uproar, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg decided to open Facebook to high school students in 2005. By 2006, the service had opened to anyone 13 years or older with a valid e-mail address. By and large, the strategy change has worked. A 2009 study by Compete.com found Facebook to be the most popular social network in terms if unique views and monthly visits.
The company has also sold a 1.6% stake to Microsoft for $240 million, and rumors of an IPO continue to appear.