This day in history: Facebook gains popularity at App State

Jenna Guzman and Andrew Rice
February 8, 2022

Facebook reported its first ever decline in new users since its creation Feb. 2, but the website started gaining popularity on campus 17 years ago today, according to a news article from The Appalachian archives.

On Feb. 8, 2005, college students wishing to connect with friends from home and their campus community turned to the social media platform once known as “Thefacebook.com”, thus sparking its growth in popularity. App State was no exception to this trend, with 5,289 registered users from the school in 2005, according to the article by Alison Fosbenner.

However, students had privacy concerns about the site.

Beau Winslow, a sophomore English and French major at the time said, “it is built for stalkers and creepy people.”

App State created its official Facebook account in 2008. Over 130,000 people follow the university’s Facebook account as of Feb. 8.

Although the app was once widely popular, apps such as TikTok have drawn users away from the platform.

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About the Contributors

Jenna Guzman, Editor-in-Chief

Jenna Guzman (she/her) is a junior journalism and public relations double major with a media studies minor. This is her third year working for The Appalachian.