Facebook
Facebook is the world‟s
largest social network, with more than 845 million active users around the
world. It was
created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg in his dorm room at
Harvard. Facebook grew from being an eccentric site for
college students to a popular platform that is used to
sell cars and movies, win over voters in presidential elections
and organize protest movements. It offers advertisers
a global platform, with the exception of China, where
Facebook does not operate. For the collection of
photographs of people after which it is named, users must register
before using the site, after which they may create a
personal profile, add other users as friends, and exchange
messages, including automatic notifications when they
update their profile. Additionally, users may join commoninterest
user groups, organized by workplace, school or
college, or other characteristics, and categorize their
friends into lists such as “People from Work” or “Close
Friends”. Facebook allows any users who declare
themselves to be at least 13 years old to become
registered users of the site. In April 2011, Facebook launched a
new portal for marketers and creative agencies to help
them develop brand promotions on Facebook. Today
Facebook has been involved in campaigns for True
Blood, American Idol, and Top Gear. News and media outlets
such as the Washington Post, Financial Times and ABC
News have used aggregated Facebook fan data to create
various info-graphics and charts to accompany their
articles. Facebook has affected the social life and activity of
people in various ways. With its availability on many
mobile devices, Facebook allows users to continuously stay
in touch with friends, relatives and other
acquaintances wherever they are in the world, as long as there is access to
the internet. It can also unite people with common
interests and/or beliefs through groups and other pages, and has
been known to reunite lost family members and friends
because of the widespread reach of its network. Some
studies have named Facebook as a source of problems in
relationships. The idea of facilitating interaction between
individuals via a web platform connecting
user-generated profile pages has been taken beyond social networking,
notably by person-to-person charities, which allow
individuals to contribute small amounts to charitable projects
for other individuals. The recent spread of cheap
internet access in developing countries has made genuine
international person-to-person philanthropy
increasingly feasible. However, Facebook has met with controversies.
Several news stories have suggested that using
Facebook can lead to higher instances of divorce and infidelity, but
the claims have been questioned by other commentators.
Facebook has been blocked intermittently in several
countries including the People‟s Republic of China, Iran, Uzbekistan, Pakistan,
Syria, and Bangladesh on different
bases. The privacy of Facebook users has also been an
issue, and the safety of user accounts has been
compromised several times. Facebook has settled a
lawsuit regarding claims over source code and intellectual
property. Though Facebook has some pitfalls, its
worldwide importance and utility for various purposes cannot be
denied.
No comments:
Post a Comment