The Many Faces of Facebook [SLIDESHOW]

Facebook is constantly changing. Since its launch in February 2004, the social network created by Mark Zuckerberg has undergone a lot of major alterations.

Here, we profile the big jumps and the small tweaks that have made Facebook such a colossal draw to modern internet users.

With more than 901 million monthly active users and with an $18.6bn sale of shares taking place this week, the website shows no signs of losing ground to its competitors.

Can you remember what Facebook looked like before Timeline was imposed? Or what the version before the controversial 'New' Facebook in July 2008 looked like?

Reminisce about people you defriended and features you'd be willing to click the 'Like' button for by checking out the slideshow. 

The most basic early version of the social networking site was dubbed “a Mark Zuckerberg production”.

TheFacebook was a much simpler system of user profiles. It was originally only available to users with an email address from a specific institution. Notice the lack of news feed.

The first version of the Facebook news feed appeared in September 2006. “We really messed this one up,” Mark Zuckerberg said in an open letter to Facebook users after many complained that their activities were shared too widely.

Facebook Mobile lets you surf Facebook on your phone. “Just like the normal website, except that it actually fits on the screen,” says a developer.

Facebook Gifts are added, costing $1 each with the net proceeds for the first month going to the breast cancer research charity Komen For The Cure. The gifts were designed by Susan Kare, the designer of the original icon set for the Macintosh computer in 1983.

A refresh changed the navigation and simplified profiles, as well as updating Network pages. The former My Messages and My Shares pages also merged to create the Inbox.

Facebook Marketplace is added, allowing users to sell off their goods.

Facebook Video is launched. Users can tag their friends in films to let them know their starring role has gone viral and even use video messaging to contact other Facebook users.

The first Facebook app for the Apple iPhone is launched.

Facebook Chat debuts. The software was designed to be more immediate and fill the gap between posting on the wall and sending a message to someone’s Inbox.

In one of the biggest changes to the social networking site, users started seeing prompts on their home pages inviting them to switch over and try out “the new Facebook”. The tabbed profile added a Wall to display the most recent and relevant information for a user; an Info tab showing user details that don’t often change; a Photos tab showing images and albums; plus a Boxes tab bringing together Facebook applications.

The Like feature is introduced, allowing users to tell friends how they feel about the links, images and other content posted on Facebook.

Changes to the home page let users see everything that's shared by friends and connections as it happens. They also offer more control by letting users choose exactly what updates they see from the people and activities they are connected to.

Immediate Notifications start to appear in bubbles above the chat window when users are logged in. The Friends List is also integrated into the chat software, allowing users to filter which groups see when they are online and available.

Usernames are added allowing users to choose a specific name that is easier to search for.

Status updates and other posts from the Publisher can now be tagged to include your friends. Including the @ symbol before you type a name opens a drop-down menu where you can choose friends, groups, events, applications and pages.

Changes to the home page offer two views of the news feed: a summary view of the most interesting activity from the last day and a real-time view that shows users what is happening right now.

Facebook connects with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 games console.

Changes to the top menu place the newest notifications, requests and messages there. The left menu is also altered to make it easier to access your messages and other core features all in one place.

New mobile website 0.facebook.com is launched. The site includes all of the key features of Facebook but is optimised for speed. More than 50 mobile operators in 45 countries and territories connect to it with zero data charges.

The ability to ‘Like’ the comments friends write under your posts is added.

Face detection technology makes it easier and quicker to identify people in photos and tag them.

Questions is launched as a beta product. Clicking the ‘Ask Question’ button allows users to pose a query to their friends and other connections.

The Facebook Check In function is added to Apple’s iPhone and mobile browsers using HTML 5. It allows users to tell their friends where they are using GPS technology.

The Deals service launches, allowing users to use Check In to claim location-based savings such as 50 percent of a cup of coffee in the nearest coffee shop.

A new version of the Facebook Profile includes an updated introduction and a featured friends section, as well as a section to add your education details.

Tag suggestions makes it easy to tag multiple photos by matching the faces in your images to those of your friends.

Improved Friends Lists features include Smart lists that create themselves based on profile information your friends have in common (eg. work, school, family and city). Contacts can also be grouped into separate Close Friends and Acquaintances lists that filter what your main friends have been up to so it’s easier to see.

The new Facebook Timeline format is shown off for the first time. The idea behind the change is that more important postings can be highlighted for longer, rather than being replaced by the most recent things such as updates about what you had for breakfast.

A version of Facebook optimised for Apple’s iPad tablet PC launches.