As Facebook turns 10, Mark Zuckerberg pledges to solve ‘bigger and more important problems’

Facebook is 10 years old today — and CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to the social network to reflect on the past decade, saying “it’s rare to be able to touch so many people’s lives” and that he’s “so grateful” to be part of this journey.

During its fourth-quarter earnings report last week, Facebook revealed it had 1.23 billion monthly active users, 757 million daily active users, 945 million monthly active mobile users, and 556 million daily active mobile users.

Zuckerberg says that Facebook grew out of a desire to connect the world — and this focus has helped it grow to where it is today.

I always thought this was important — giving people the power to share and stay connected, empowering people to build their own communities themselves.

When I reflect on the last 10 years, one question I ask myself is: why were we the ones to build this? We were just students. We had way fewer resources than big companies. If they had focused on this problem, they could have done it.

The only answer I can think of is: we just cared more.

While some doubted that connecting the world was actually important, we were building. While others doubted that this would be sustainable, you were forming lasting connections.

We just cared more about connecting the world than anyone else. And we still do today.

Looking ahead, Zuckerberg says he is “more excited about the next ten years than the last.”

He explains that the past decade has been focused on bootstrapping the social network, but he is keen to move ahead with the resources Facebook has now to “help people across the world solve even bigger and more important problems” — hinting that Facebook will gradually move to a different focus.

Today, social networks are mostly about sharing moments. In the next decade, they’ll also help you answer questions and solve complex problems.

Today, we have only a few ways to share our experiences. In the next decade, technology will enable us to create many more ways to capture and communicate new kinds of experiences.

Last year, Facebook launched Internet.org, a new initiative aimed at bringing the benefits of Internet access to everyone on the planet through collaboration within the tech industry.

See also – Facebook unveils ‘A Look Back’, a new video product that shows your 20 biggest moments and Facebook’s ex-CTO Bret Taylor on the site’s 10 year milestone, lessons learned from Mark Zuckerberg

Headline image via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images