Facebook is five, and 150 million people strong

Mark Zuckerberg is celebrating Facebook's fifth birthday – with the social networking phenomenon's founder insisting that the site has given 'everyone a safe a trusted environment for people to interact online.'

Zuckerberg founded Facebook in 2004 when he was at Harvard University, quickly expanding from a network just for that university to a network of schools and eventually one of the internet's most-visited sites.

The five years have not been without controversy, with Zuckerberg fighting off claims by fellow students that the idea was not solely his.

150 million

However, with the social network moving past 150 million subscribers, Zuckerberg is a proud man, explaining on the Facebook blog just why he thinks the site has proven so popular

"Since its founding, one of the constants of Facebook is that it has continuously evolved to make it easier to share," wrote Zuckerberg.

"…Building and moving quickly for five years hasn't been easy, and we aren't finished. The challenge motivates us to keep innovating and pushing technical boundaries to produce better ways to share information."

Changes to the internet

He continues: "The culture of the Internet has also changed pretty dramatically over the past five years. Before, most people wouldn't consider sharing their real identities online."

"But Facebook has offered a safe and trusted environment for people to interact online, which has made millions of people comfortable expressing more about themselves.

"Why is it important to us to keep building better ways for people to share information? Enabling efficient sharing is important because it makes the world more open, and this gives everyone a voice to express ideas and initiate change."

Landmark

The 150 million mark is a significant landmark for Facebook – which offers people the chance to form a network of friends and post photos and videos.

"This is a happy occasion for Facebook," added Zuckerberg. "But much more significant to the Facebook team is the fact that over 150 million people around the world are using Facebook to connect with the people in their lives.

"Facebook was founded in 2004 to give people the tools to engage and understand the world around them. We are glad and humbled that so many people are using Facebook in this way.

"As we celebrate Facebook's 5th birthday, we continue to work hard to evolve Facebook and make it as simple as possible to communicate with and understand the people and entities that matter to you."