The past, they say, is another country – they do things differently there. And the celebrations to mark Facebook’s 10th birthday this week are a sign of how much the way we communicate has changed in the last decade.
When Facebook was born, in Mark Zuckerberg’s college dorm room at Harvard in 2004, social media was still a babe in arms – MySpace
was still predominantly being used by unsigned musicians and poorly laid out online chat rooms were where people went to talk online with like-minded friends.
Facebook, with its photos and status updates has given people – and brands – a forum to reveal and share more information about themselves than we could have ever imagined. Or in some cases #TMI.
Designed as a way for students to keep in touch with what their friends were up to, it’s now one of the first places some of us turn to to announce a major event in our lives – be it an engagement, a birth or a break up.
And increasingly, it’s become a way to keep in touch with friends and family we don’t see all that often, allowing us an insight into the world of those we care about with much more immediacy than letters or phone calls.
Facebook has not only changed the way we connect with people, it’s changed the way we connect with brands. Businesses of all sizes are now able to engage with huge audiences worldwide to promote their products and services – and many have reaped the results.
Fashion giant ASOS
saw a 32% growth in its Facebook fan base after using the website to promote its summer seasonal sale campaign, (source: socialmediatoday.com) whilst KitKat 
experienced increased sales and return on investment after moving its spend from traditional TV advertising to Facebook (source: Facebook for Business Success Stories).
In a world that’s ever more crowded with demands on our time, Facebook has succeeded because it enables us to engage with the world in an easy, effective way, allowing us to tell stories concisely and creatively. 
And to mark its 10th birthday, Facebook is allowing its users to tell their own story of the last decade in video form. Of course, here at JAM, we couldn’t resist joining in. We hope you ‘LIKE’ it.

See JAM’s last 10 years here!