Claims

Factual · Their own work or organisation

“When I started Facebook, we mostly typed text on websites.”

Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO, in founder's letter · 28 October 2021 · Founder's Letter, 2021 (Meta Newsroom)

When Zuckerberg started Facebook, people mostly typed text on websites.

Mostly true True in substance, wrong in a detail.

The second judge would not resolve this claim; the verdict shown is the first judge's.

Said for an organisation they lead or work for; it counts on both records.

What would count as true or false

The claim is that when Zuckerberg started Facebook (2004), people mostly typed text on websites, meaning web activity was mainly text-based and on desktop rather than photo, video or mobile-app based. True: historical data or accounts of the 2004-era internet and early Facebook show that text-based desktop web use was the main mode, with photos, video and mobile apps marginal. Mostly true: text-based web use dominated, but photos or other media were already significant enough to make 'mostly' a slight overstatement. Mixed: text and other media or modes were roughly comparable. Mostly false: there was a real text emphasis, but non-text or non-web use was large enough that the claim distorts the picture. False: evidence shows text-on-websites was not the main mode of internet use in 2004.

Evidence

1. Hundreds Register for New Facebook Website | The Harvard Crimson The Harvard Crimson · 9 February 2004

   “Zuckerberg’s site allows people with Harvard e-mail addresses to upload their pictures and personal and academic information.”

2. Newfangled Networking | Harvard Magazine Harvard Magazine · 1 November 2004

   “You report your concentration at Harvard, phone number, hometown, and high school; but you also list your favorite books and interests outside class.”

3. Newfangled Networking | Harvard Magazine Harvard Magazine · 1 November 2004

   “When they next log onto the site, they can accept the friendship (in which case their photograph appears in a box at the bottom of your profile)”

4. New data on internet use and demographics Pew Research Center · 22 December 2004

   “51% of the 106 million American adults with home internet connections have broadband connections.”

5. Newfangled Networking | Harvard Magazine Harvard Magazine · 1 November 2004

   “When they next log onto the site, they can accept the friendship (in which case their photograph appears in a box at the bottom of your profile) or they can reject it (in which case you're told that the request is pending, endlessly).”

6. Newfangled Networking | Harvard Magazine Harvard Magazine · 1 November 2004

   “You report your concentration at Harvard, phone number, hometown, and high school; but you also list your favorite books and interests outside class.”

7. Newfangled Networking | Harvard Magazine Harvard Magazine · 1 November 2004

   “Many sections are arranged via websites, and e-mail is the only way most students would dare to contact their teaching fellows — or, for that matter, their professors — in a hurry.”

8. The Rise of Wireless Connectivity and PIP's Latest Findings Pew Internet & American Life Project (Pew Research Center) · 13 April 2004

   “17% of Internet users have logged on using a wireless device. This is the first reading we have ever gotten on this subject and it means that more than 21 million people have used wireless connections to access the Internet.”

9. The Rise of Wireless Connectivity and PIP's Latest Findings Pew Internet & American Life Project (Pew Research Center) · 13 April 2004

   “70% of Internet users get news online.”

10. A brief history of Facebook as a media text: The development of an empty structure First Monday (author: Niels Brügger) · 29 April 2015

    “and photos (Picasa, 2002, Photobucket, 2003, Flickr, 2004)”

11. A brief history of Facebook as a media text: The development of an empty structure First Monday (author: Niels Brügger) · 29 April 2015

    “These analyses were produced at a point of time in Facebook’s history when there were limited options for profiles and networking and no status updates, News Feeds, Facebook Connect or apps for mobile media.”

Reasoning

Accounts from 2004 describe early Facebook profiles as mostly typed text: concentration, phone number, hometown, favourite books and interests (E2). A 2015 academic history says the early site had no News Feed and no mobile apps (E11). These support a text-based, desktop picture. Photos were already part of it, though. Users uploaded profile pictures from launch (E1), friends' photos showed on profiles (E3), and photo-sharing sites such as Picasa, Photobucket and Flickr existed by 2004 (E10). The evidence gives no figures on how much web use was text versus other media, so "mostly" holds but may slightly understate how much photos mattered.

Cite this claim

Mark Zuckerberg, “When Zuckerberg started Facebook, people mostly typed text on websites.” (said 28 October 2021). Verdict: mostly true. Reliability API, claim c_7d6cf5e2a7ea, method 0.1.0+3f84d14d. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_7d6cf5e2a7ea