subject: Facebook – Internet Crack for the Masses [print this page] Facebook is becoming very popular nowadays, mostly among students from colleges and universities. Research study shows that almost 90% of students use Facebook. It is the most popular social network in the world. It has more than 95 million active users and it is the 6th most trafficked site in the US.
Facebook was founded in Feb 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg in his Harvard dorm room. He was helped by some of his student friends, but the major work creating Facebook was done by Zuckerberg.
A lawsuit from the website ConnectU alleged that Zuckerberg had stolen the idea while employed by their company. Zuckerberg's plan was to make a social network between educational institutions to exchange ideas and information. When he made Facebook at that time, they claimed that "Facebook is an online directory that connects people through social networks at schools."
In the beginning there were few colleges and universities in the Facebook network but slowly more and more colleges and schools joined and it spread out to the world. It was no longer a network between educational institutions but a social network to connect to friends and family.
According to research it is estimated that over 2,000 colleges and universities are supported by Facebook and more than 25,000 high schools. More than 6 million college student accounts already exist and it is projected that 20,000 profiles are added each day.
70% of students using Facebook daily profess they are addicted' to it, the time they spend on Facebook and the statuses they post shows what they do every moment, what they bought, what they ate, which place they visited etc. Facebook is a platform to connect and enjoy with friends and family but its excessive use as above may lead to addiction and abuse.
There have also been some issues of privacy on Facebook. One must be careful of what they share on Facebook because it may come back to haunt you. Allowing everyone to connect to your profile will also allow everyone to know personal details about you, like pictures, date of birth and address. These all things should be limited to those who you know.
If one use Facebook properly, such that it doesn't affect his or her studies detrimentally and doesn't leak out personal information then with limited use it can be a place to enjoy meeting friends socially without ramifications.
