Facebook is Blue because Mark Zuckerberg is Colorblind

I had never wondered why Facebook’s color scheme (or theme) is so very much based on the shades of blue. Facebook’s color scheme paints all the interface elements; from its famous FB logo to backgrounds, from font colors to shades; all blue and white. I personally like blue color —so I never even complained about Facebook’s choice of palette. But if you’ve ever thought about why Facebook is so dominated by azure, sky-blue, navy-blue… and why it has never changed its color scheme —then here is the answer.

The primary reason is that Facebook’s billionaire founder Mark Zuckerberg has red-green colorblindness. As a result, blue is the color he can see the best. When Zuckerberg was designing The Facebook (original name of Facebook) in the Harvard University —he chose various tints of blue to be part of the user interface color scheme. For Zuck, blue is the best color.

Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook topping one billion users mark.

Red-green colorblindness is a medical condition which is mostly genetic and the person inherits it from mother. About 6-8% males on the planet suffer with this condition. Red-green colorblindness does not mean that the affected person gets confused between red and green color. This actually means that the person will confuse all the colors that have any bit of red or green in them. For example, an affected person will confuse between blue and purple colors because he will not be able to see the red part in purple color. Therefore, the purple color will also appear blue to that person.

Comparison of the visions of a normal and red-green colorblind person.

Mark Zuckerberg told the New Yorker magazine, “Blue is the richest color for me. I can see all of blue.”

His inability of properly distinguishing among colors notwithstanding, Mark Zuckerberg has provided the world with a great success story and, of course, the best among online social networks. Facebook has made him money, name and fame. Zuckerberg’s disability did not stop him from becoming a successful entrepreneur.

Let Facebook be blue… FB’s color scheme is, in my view, an inspiration that limited resources do not necessarily dictate the success or failure of a venture. Willingness to do something plays the most important part. For the records, Zuckerberg had declined Yahoo! ‘s offer of $1 billion to take over Facebook. He wanted to nurture his baby on his own. And he has done it in style. Facebook’s market valuation was $100 billion when it offered its IPO to the general public.