Meta and Facebook: From connecting college kids to changing the world

• Facebook has evolved from a simple social network for college students into a controversial and influential media content site.
• The parent company, now Meta, grew into a trillion-dollar firm by acquiring brands like Instagram and WhatsApp and monetizing user attention through advertising.
• Meta has faced numerous scandals, including the Cambridge Analytica data breach and accusations of designing addictive platforms that harm mental health.

This story is part of the Iconic Brands series, a USA TODAY network project showcasing the companies and brands that helped shape the nation's identity, economy and culture. The series celebrates American ingenuity with a deeply reported examination of how brands intersect with history, community and everyday life in celebration of the nation's 250th anniversary. Find more athttps://crabstation.site/usa250/iconic-brands

In the 2010 film "The Social Network," which dramatizes the creation of Facebook, co-founder Mark Zuckerberg lays out his early vision for the social media network that would soon become an integral part of American life.

"People want to go online and check out their friends, so why not build a website that offers that?" asked Jesse Eisenberg, who played Zuckerberg in the Academy Award-winning film.

Twenty-two years after Facebook launched for college students, those innocent, heady days — when social media meant little more than sharing pet photos and birthday wishes — are often hard to remember.

Rebrand and billion-dollar acquisitions

Facebook itself is as much a media content site with its News Feed and Reels as it is a place for graduation pictures. Throw in a whirlwind of lawsuits, bans and scandals, and the site is just as controversial as it is influential.

As Facebook grew, so did its parent company — rebranded as Meta Platforms, Inc. in 2021. Now valued at $1.63 trillion, Meta’s ascent was fueled largely by multibillion-dollar acquisitions of brands such as Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus AR.

It has made Meta a rare iconic American company ― one that doesn't sell a physical product, joining modern counterparts such as Google, Netflix, Visa, Mastercard, Salesforce, and Oracle, as well as more veteran corporations such as AT&T, broadcast television networks, and insurance companies like MetLife and Prudential.

Meta’s scale sets it apart from most other trillion‑dollar companies, which typically generate revenue by selling physical goods or direct consumer services. Instead, Meta earns the vast majority of its revenue from advertising, effectively monetizing attention.

"They have an audience hooked on their product and advertisers are going to pay to get a sliver of that attention," said Niklas Myhr, known as "The Social Media Professor" at Chapman University.

At the heart of the debate is Facebook’s monetization strategy: a reliance on algorithms that seem to favor more sensational content to maximize user engagement. Amplifying divisive content, teamed with an infinite scroll and notifications, led to accusations of creating addictive, habitual usage patterns.

"You don't have to be a social scientist or psychologist to know what keeps people coming back," said Lindsay Hoffman, University of Delaware communications associate professor and director of public engagement for the Center for Political Communication.

From college students to grandparents

As Meta's original brand, Facebook is its best-known anchor.

It was launched in 2004, a year after Zuckerberg started the controversial FaceMash on Harvard University's campus, which allowed users to rank the attractiveness of female students and was quickly taken down.

Facebook began as a Harvard‑only network before expanding to all “.edu” email addresses and taking hold on campuses nationwide. Its major shift came in 2006, when it opened to users over 13 and introduced the News Feed, followed by the debut of the “Like” button three years later.

And it was in 2012 when Facebook went public, with a valuation of $104 billion, the largest tech IPO at the time.

"It was seen as rather cute and non-problematic. There was this utopian vision of what these online spaces could be: a place to hear different perspectives," said Hoffman, who teaches a course about technology and politics at the University of Delaware.

Or as Myhr puts it: "It was a happy place built around relationships, and people were excited about the novelty of the whole thing."

What began as a digital networking platform for college students has since evolved into a space more commonly used by parents and grandparents, as many younger users have migrated to apps such as TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and Yik Yak.

In his sessions, Myhr asks audiences to compare their current Facebook sharing habits to the site’s early days; he estimates that 90% admit to sharing significantly less.

"The regular person is sharing less and professionals and influencers are sharing more than ever," he said, "It feels like people have taken a step back from being a participant to becoming a spectator. They are an audience ― a valuable audience."

Surviving scandals and controversy

With a multigenerational customer base, Meta's reach is substantial, with Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp each having billions of users.

But with great power comes great responsibility.

The benefits of connecting people globally remain as potent as ever. This impact is felt across the spectrum: from daily interactions between neighbors and friends to historic shifts like the Arab Spring, where Facebook served as a catalyst for pro-democracy uprisings across the Arab world.

But at times, all of that has faded due to scandals and controversy.

Major eruptions of pushback against Meta include the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018, when the unauthorized harvesting of personal data from up to 87 million Facebook users was used for political advertising, adding to criticisms that the site pushes divisive and extreme political content.

In 2025, the Federal Trade Commission filed suit against Meta, accusing the company of illegally monopolizing the personal social networking market through its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. Meta won the case, avoiding a likely court-ordered break-up of the empire.

A 2021 Wall Street Journal investigation known as “The Facebook Files” exposed internal documents showing Meta’s awareness of the societal harms caused by its platforms. The leak was provided by whistleblower Frances Haugen, a former product manager who later testified before Congress.

Soon after, Facebook was rebranded Meta.

And in March, Meta was dealt courtroom losses on back-to-back days in a pair of possible landmark cases.In New Mexico, Meta was found liable for violating the state’s consumer protection laws and failing to protect children from sexual predators. And then in California, Meta and YouTube were both found to be negligent in the design of their apps, failing to warn about their dangers and harming the plaintiff.

A follow-up to "The Social Network" film, again written by Aaron Sorkin, is expected to be released in late 2026. It is based on "The Facebook Files" and will be named "The Social Reckoning."

Broader pushback has followed, including Australia’s landmark 2025 ban on social media for users under 16, which has prompted other nations to consider similar crackdowns. That scrutiny intensified in 2026 with a major Los Angeles trial accusing Meta and Google of deliberately designing addictive platforms that harm children’s mental health.

When social networks like Facebook are created, Hoffman believes "technological philosophers" were absent.

Hoffman described a technological philosopher as "a person in the room who says, 'Hmm, could this have negative consequences we're not expecting?"

"Because that's what we're seeing," she said.

Added Myhr: "These platforms have evolved, not for the better. Instead of seeing what your friends are sharing, you see what the algorithm thinks you want to see based on the content, not the creator of the content. And that can be quite addictive. It has become less social and more about media."

Meta's future: AI & augmented reality

Meta’s future — and the "digital tentacles" that reach into our daily lives — will be shaped by several factors, including its massive investment in artificial intelligence, which could eventually supplant social networking with AI-curated content.

In an earnings call with investors in early 2026, Zuckerberg said, "We started with text, and then moved to photos when we got phones with cameras, and then moved to video when mobile networks got fast enough. Soon, we'll see an explosion of new media formats that are more immersive and interactive, and only possible because of advances in AI."

Meta also is heavily involved in its Orion brand augmented reality glasses, which have built upon the success of its Ray-Ban Meta glasses.

Orion brings the digital experience of the phone to the physical world with large holographic displays, "placing 2D and 3D content and experiences anywhere you want," according to the company, allowing it to "anticipate and proactively address your needs."

Aside from technological advances and transformation, new regulations such as measures banning news on social media or new age restrictions could restrain parts of its business if some countries. And a successful pending FTC appeal antitrust ruling could force divestitures.

Could any of these bans or lawsuits be a tipping point for major change for Facebook and Meta? Hoffman is skeptical.

"How many times has Mark Zuckerberg been on Capitol Hill? We have had these moments over and over and over again. We have become numb," she said. "The way we use these technologies is what shapes them. We determine what decisions companies make based on our behaviors.

"As long as we're engaging with it, getting rewarded by it, and companies are making money off it, it'll just keep going. It would take a mass revolt to change and I don't think that's going to happen."

How the list was chosen

The Iconic Brands 50 identifies American companies that most profoundly shaped the nation’s identity, economy and culture. Selection emphasized historical significance, industry-building innovation, measurable economic influence and lasting cultural impact. Brands were chosen for transforming daily life or becoming enduring symbols of American values. Long-term relevance and sustained national influence carried greater weight than short-term financial performance or recent popularity.

Have a story idea? Contact Ryan Cormier of Delaware Online/The News Journal at [email protected] or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier) and X (@ryancormier).