Facebook Turns 12; Zuckerberg In Promo Video

The social media giant recognises February 4 as 'Friends Day', and has rolled out personalised videos for its users.

Yesterday was Facebook's 12th birthday. On the occasion -- 'Friends Day is what they're calling it -- the social media giant has released a promotional video featuring founder Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg.

The video spells out some real, human interest stories of people who used Facebook to find love, re-connect with an estranged friend, and do good on a mass scale, for instance, to help mobilise baby strollers for refugees in Europe.

"That's what humanity is," says Zuckerberg in the minute-and-a-half-long film.

Facebook users are being invited to participate in the celebrations; they can get personalised videos and stickers made. As Zuckerberg says in the video, "...rather than having a birthday that focusses on us, we should make sure that the world focusses on how people are connecting around the world."

Watch my Friends Day video! #friendsday Thanks #facebook for such nice memories :) https://t.co/ODGqMBytIw

— Ravichandran S (@live2ravi) February 4, 2016

Facebook is rolling out personalised 'Friends Day' videos for millions of people, to encourage them to share on the network with the hashtag #FriendsDay. The videos weave together special moments that the person has spent with her/his friends. The short film can be edited by users, who can also customise their video (by selecting the photos that appear in it) and then post it on their timeline.

The video may be viewed at the top of the News Feed tab, or by clicking on the words "Watch Yours" below a friend's Friends Day video.

Watch my Friends Day video! #friendsday

I do have some pretty awesome peeps! https://t.co/TaWJqlMCYs

— Srishti Tomer (@CantFindHandle) February 4, 2016

Says team Facebook on its blog published yesterday, "We know that people are more connected today than ever before. Over the past five years, the global Facebook community has more than doubled in size. Today we're announcing that during that same time period, the degrees of separation between a typical pair of Facebook users have continued to decrease to 3.57 degrees, down from 3.74 degrees in 2011. This is a significant reflection of how closely connected the world has become."

For the record, India houses Facebook's second largest user base in the world, after the US. In terms of advertising, however, the brand has struggled in this market. Facebook is working hard at luring advertisers and brands to its platform.

Recently, Facebook was in the news for its '
Free Basics
' initiative in India, one that led to a run in with the Advertising Standards Council of India.

Under this initiative, Facebook claims to provide free/affordable internet access to people in India. However, those using this service will have access only to Facebook's partner websites and applications. This has irked advocates of net neutrality, who have spoken out against the initiative across Twitter and other public forums, online.