--- description: From 58 gender options to an infinite selection. title: Your Facebook Gender Can Now Be Anything You Want image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea9f28d3e9d89c86/6987813a0b72e3d4ec6dde40/facebook-gender.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Your Facebook Gender Can Now Be Anything You Want  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 26, 2015 7:02 PM CUT  The Facebook Inc. logo is displayed on an Apple Inc. iPad Air in Washington, D.C., on Mon, Jan. 27, 2014. The Facebook Inc. logo is displayed on an Apple Inc. iPad Air in Washington, D.C., on Mon, Jan. 27, 2014.Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 26, 2015 7:02 PM CUT Facebook added a fill-in-the-blank option for gender on Thursday that lets users describe their gender identity freely. “Now, if you do not identify with the pre-populated list of gender identities, you are able to add your own,” Facebook said in a statement. The update is a step forward in Facebook’s efforts to expand gender identity, which previously included creating [58 options for gender](http://techland.time.com/2014/02/13/facebook-gender-identity-zuckerberg/ "undefined") from “cis woman” to “two-spirit” in Feb. 2014. Google+ similarly unveiled an [“infinite” gender category](http://time.com/3630012/google-infinite-gender-options/ "undefined") in Dec. 2014, allowing users to describe their gender identity using words of their choice. ### This Is What Your Facebook Profile Looked Like Over the Last 11 Years  The Original Facebook Group Page, 2004\. Before people realized how awesome pictures are. Courtesy of Facebook  Facebook Profile Page, 2005\. Back when Facebook looked a little bit like MySpace. Courtesy of Facebook  Facebook Profile Page Facelift, 2005\. The "the" is finally dropped. Courtesy of Facebook  Facebook Profile Page, 2006\. You no longer need to be reminded "this is you" at the top of your profile page. Courtesy of Facebook  Facebook Profile Page, 2007\. Every profile update still had to begin with "is," forcing you to talk about yourself in the third person. Courtesy of Facebook  Facebook Profile Page, 2008\. The wall. Courtesy of Facebook  Facebook Profile Page, 2009\. It only took five years for Facebook to create easy-to-find privacy settings. Courtesy of Facebook  Facebook Profile Page, 2010\. Facebook starts to get pretty. Courtesy of Facebook  Facebook Profile Page, 2011\. Zuckerberg realizes that people love pictures, usually of animals. Courtesy of Facebook  Facebook Profile Page, 2012\. The timeline allows you (or your parents) to trace your life from birth to death. Courtesy of Facebook  Facebook Profile Page, 2013-2014\. Facebook introduced a new app, Paper, on Monday. Courtesy of Facebook  Facebook Profile Page, 2014-2015\. Facebook updated both the newsfeed algorithm and the privacy settings. Courtesy of Alex Fitzpatrick/Facebook ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3724405/facebook-gender/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3724405/facebook-gender/"},"headline":"Your Facebook Gender Can Now Be Anything You Want","datePublished":"2015-02-26T19:02:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:45:08.494Z","description":"From 58 genders to an infinite selection","url":"https://time.com/3724405/facebook-gender/","keywords":["Tech","Social Media"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea9f28d3e9d89c86/6987813a0b72e3d4ec6dde40/facebook-gender.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea9f28d3e9d89c86/6987813a0b72e3d4ec6dde40/facebook-gender.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Facebook Gender","caption":"Facebook Gender","creditText":"Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3724405/facebook-gender/","name":"Your Facebook Gender Can Now Be Anything You Want"}}]}] ```