Honestly, outside of the tech innovation, FB's biggest "in" was its exclusivity.
- First, you HAD to have a Harvard .edu address. For a lot of the general public, Harvard is top of mind when people think 'elite' institution
- Next, they expanded it, but only to other US schools with .edu domains. That's when I joined, around 2005.
- Finally, they opened it up to the general public everywhere, and by that time they were almost a household name globally.