Facebook is one of the modern, updated and upgraded versions of social communication. It has a great value and importance for relating people with one another widely and globally. Since there is a unanimous assumption that every scientific or technological invention depends on the users. So, conscientious and wise decisions are the great factors in this regard. Currently over 1.5 billion people are using Facebook and 70 percent of those are outside the US. Facebook is now available in 70 languages. Of the five countries with the most Facebook users, two are Muslims No. 2 is Indonesia and No. 5 Turkey. Last year, the number of Facebook users in the Arab World increased 79 percent. The countries with the fastest growth in Facebook use are Brazil, India and Mexico.
Facebook is a popular free social networking website that allows registered users to create profiles, upload photos and videos, send messages and keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues, the site which is available in 70 different languages, includes public features such as —
-Marketplace – allowing members to post, read and respond to classified ads.
–Groups — allowing members who have common interests to find each other and interacts.
–Events – allowing members to publicize an event, invite guests who plan to attend.
–Pages – allowing members to create and promote a public page built around a specific topic.
–Presence technology – allowing members to see which contacts are online and chat.
Facebook offers a range of privacy options to its members. A member can make all his communications visible to everyone, he can block specific connections or he can keep all his communications private.
History of Facebook
Facebook has not always been called Facebook, Initially Facebook was a very small website with a different name and was meant to be used by only some limited number of people. Facebook history goes back to 2003 when a Harvard University student of IT created a very small website for the Harvard University Students. The more on history of Facebook are given below:
Facemash: Facebook was invented in 2003, by Mark Zukerberg, along with his three Harvard University classmates. Facebook was initially called Facemash. Initially Facebook was available to only Harvard University students and within a short period about 450 students visited the website.
Thefacebook.com: In 2004, Mark created a new website and called it thefacebook.com. At this time the intention of Mark was to make this website accessible to all university students worldwide. More than half of the population of the Harvard University joined Thefacebook.com. Seeing the growth of the website, a few people joined Mark in his project and helped in promotion of the website. Soon Thefacebook.com became available in most of the universities of the USA and Canada.
Facebook.com: In 2005, Mark purchased another website named Facebook.com. At this point Facebook.com had reached several other universities in South and Central America and UK as well. In 2006, Facebook became available for everyone in the world who was 16 years of age or older. As of August 20015, 1.18 billion people were active users of Facebook.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Facebook
Facebook is the most used social networking website in the world. It has many advantages for the young, adults as well as for the businessmen. There are many negative effects associated with Facebook. It is blamed for causing troubles in relationships, health problems, privacy problems and many more.
Advantages
–Sharing of information: The website allows you to share with others what you desire to share, ask public opinion, ask question. You can share your pictures, videos and what you have been upto with your friends.
–Chatting: Facebook is a social networking website with the option fo chatting with your friends. Many people specially students use Facebook chat for group discussions, while some businessmen use it for short meetings.
–Finding old friends: Today almost every internet user uses Facebook. Using Facebook, you can again find your old friends and colleagues with whom you lost contact.
–Business promotion: Through Facebook ads and fan pages you can advertise your business. Facebook offers a very customizable ads placement service, which is also very easy to use.
–Entertainment: Facebook provides a lot of gaming and other applications. Some people open Facebook only to play games.
–Boredom killer: Facebook is a boredom killer, especially for students during vacations and even elderly people who are retired for their jobs.
Disadvantages
-Bad for health: Most Facebook users are addicted to it. Now every kid knows that they live in social networking and they can also play games on Facebook. Facebook has bad effects on physical as well as mental health of the people. Facebook has also reduced people’s eye-sight.
-Less time for study: Majority of the Facebook users are school, college or university going students. Studies are very much affected due to the use of Facebook. Students now even use Facebook during the class, while paying lesser attention to the lecture. What worse could be than this?
-No or very little privacy: The problem is that most users are not aware of Facebook privacy and many do not take it seriously. For this their private information is leaked out due to which social problems arise.
-Troubles in relationships: One recent report blamed Facebook for 1 in every 5 divorces. Muammar Gaddafi and Hosni Mubarak got divorced due to Facebook. An American lawyer said that Facebook is one of the major sources of causing troubles in relationships.
Preventing Facebook abuses
The only way to completely protect young people from abuse on social networks is to banish Internet use all together. Since that is never going to happen, some steps are recommended to prevent abuses on Facebook. They are—
-Don’t respond to unsolicited e-mail or friend requests.
-Make your account private. Only the people you choose will be on your friends list.
-If cyber bullying is occurring through e-mail, block the user’s address.
-Never give your personal information. This includes real name, home address, phone number and age.
-Parents should monitor their children while using Facebook. In this regard, parents should have enough knowledge on Facebook and IT.
Facebook has become an integral part of day to day life. Despite few bad aspects of Facebook, it has great importance of the communication of modern people. As the conscientious being, we should exploit the best use of Facebook rather than the worst abuse.