During his freshman year at Harvard in 2002, Hughes met and was recruited by Mark Zuckerberg, who at the time was still working in the early stages of Facebook. For the next two years, Hughes was unofficially responsible for beta testing and product suggestions. When the group had the idea to open Facebook to other schools, Hughes argued that schools should have their own networks to maintain the intimacy feel. He was also a key driver in developing many of Facebook’s popular features, which led to the opening of Facebook to the outside world. As a result of that, Hughes became the de facto Facebook spokesman.