What remains the most widely used social network was created by college student Mark Zuckerberg in 2004 as a means to connect students across his campus. It was a way to make it easier for young people to communicate. In the short time since it’s launch, digital communication has become second nature and heavily relied on by people of all ages across the globe.

For as long as the internet has been around people have been using chat rooms and blogs to express themselves and meet new people. Myspace, Bebo, Livejournal and Youtube are among others to also take off in the 2000s with young people picking up internet literacy as a second language. Think of online spaces as an extension of the teenage bedroom or diary, a place to express yourself and question the world, ideal for young people navigating their emotions. With the breakdown of time and space boundaries these social media can connect us to people across the world that share the same thoughts, tastes, sounds and styles that we’re interested in. New communities are built that are as real as the world AFK (Away From Keyboard), even spilling out through conventions, meet-ups, riots and romances.

Facebook along with the other apps now at our fingertips 24/7 have and will continue to impact culture and society immeasurably. How we dress, eat and vote is all up for influence, we have become the commodity traded by tech giants like Zuckerberg. The profit is increased when it is children's attention being traded. Younger people who are still being shaped and spend more time absorbing images online especially after events like the Covid-19 pandemic when virtual realities become relied on. The bleeding of scenes and styles we have seen in recent years is no surprise in a world where information and ideas are instantly shared and available. Teenagers will continue to draw on the past and present to make the new cultures of the future. 

We haven’t seen the last of Facebook despite it becoming widely unpopular due to treating profit above privacy, we may have kept parents blocked from our online diaries but the door was left open for corporations and governments. Whatever shape the digital future takes Zuckerberg will be there, leading innovations in AI and the metaverse that will soon be a part of all of our lives, likely with young people being the first to take to them.