Earlier quoted context omitted.
The original Facebook didn't have a status to update; that didn't come until around late 2007 or early 2008. There was no chat until that time as well, just "poke." In 2004 it still managed to be "social" for its time though, especially with its focus on a campus. For a very long time Facebook was just mostly static pages with a list of friends and a "wall" your friends could write on, and maybe, IIRC, photo upload.…
the wall was chat. there was one screen where you could check on who's online, then you'd write on their wall
The wall was mostly equivalent to scrawling something in a public bathroom, hence the name.