In her interview this morning, Sandberg emphasized Facebook's power to connect users across cultural and geographic lines. She pointed out that 26 million people used the platform's profile-picture rainbow filter to show support for marriage equality; plus, six million Americans have come out on Facebook, and that number is now three times what it was one year ago.

Sandberg also discussed the personal support she received after her public post about her late husband. "I wasn't sure if I was going to post it, but I did," she said. "I lost my husband tragically and suddenly. That's a horrible thing to live through, and it's also a pretty isolating thing to live through... No one quite knows what to say."

When Sandberg aired how she was feeling and how she hoped others would relate to her, she added that "it changed a lot. People knew what to say, people started talking to me more openly, and even strangers... Loss, and then trying to rebuild and resilience, is such a huge part of the human condition, and by using it and sharing on Facebook, I felt part of that global community."

"As I look to the new year, and my children and I have worked so hard to rebuild our lives and find happiness and joy and gratitude again, I think the support of strangers and our friends made a huge difference," Sandberg concluded. "I always loved Facebook's mission, but now I feel even closer to it in, I think, a much deeper and more profound way."