Facebook
Facebook is one of the top social networking sites in the world. At the time I'm writing
this, they have more than 57 million members, which is phenomenal. The creator of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, originally created the site so he and
his friends could communicate with each other while they were all in different locations, and it's grown to the extend that the latest offer he received
for purchase of his site was almost $3 billion dollars. And he's only 23 years old!
I recently joined Facebook after receiving an invitation from a friend. Turns out I'd actually already had a sign on, but had totally forgotten about it.
Instantly, I saw a few names I knew listed on her page and added them as my friends. That's one of the first things about Facebook, finding friends
and acquaintances you know, whether you know them well or not. On my first day there, I found 8 people I knew, including a couple I hadn't seen
since I graduated college. Initially, you can find friends based on the area you live in, or decide to associate yourself as a part of. You can search
most of the communities, but you can't go searching through high school communities unless you're still in high school, although those folks can
contact you; that's a nice protection for kids that I haven't seen elsewhere.
You can then decide what you want to do next. Facebook has what they call Applications, and there are many different types. The first one I set up
was once called the Visual Bookshelf, where I could list books I've read, want to read, or am presently reading. I enjoyed that, so I set up some more
applications.
Next was deciding to look through some Groups, which are online communities mainly based on topics that you can join and have discussions on. You
can even set up your own group if you see fit to. They're easy to join, and just as easy to leave. I signed up for four groups my first day, then went back,
deleted two of them, and added some others. Unfortunately, some of the groups aren't really all that active, so you can decide to just hang around, or
you can move on to something you're more suited to. One of the things one has to be prepared for, though, is some of the language used in naming
some of the groups, as well as some of the language in the groups themselves. This is all adult conversation, after all, and adults don't always know
how to contain themselves and be civil.
Next, one can add pictures, which can be dicey in some fashion. Facebook is where 2007's Miss New Jersey had put some pictures of herself up
partying with her friends in a private area, where someone was able to download them and try to get her in trouble with the Miss America pageant,
to no avail. Many people put up pictures that could get them the wrong attention, but that's their choice. People don't have to put up pictures of
themselves, or any other pictures, but pages with at least a main picture get more attention; that's just the nature of the beast. Some people don't
put a picture of themselves, but will use something else; I experimented with that for a few days before going back to a real picture, because when
you find someone you know from a long time ago and write them, if they don't recognize the picture they might not contact you back.
In general, Facebook is more of a fun social networking site than a business one, though there are groups dedicated to business networking also.
As one friend said, Facebook can be a great time waster, as there are literally thousands of applications one can find to add to their site. My site
now has some links to videos, my blog, my support of my favorite sports teams, etc. And I'm sure I'll be adding more as I go along. The best thing
about Facebook to me is that it doesn't start playing any stupid music when you get there; now, who could I be talking about?
At the time I'm writing this, Facebook has just started advertising, and had the creator put out a public apology for being a bit too obtrusive and sharing
purchasing information of its members with their friends, which they've immediately ceased. One of their main applications is what they call the News page,
which shares information on what one's friends have recently done, and though that's enjoyable, tracking purchases and sharing them with members, even
purchases that have nothing to do with the Facebook site, was a bit over the top, and I'm glad they realized that also.
Take a look at Facebook; I recommend it as a place where, if you're not scared to be found, is relatively nice.
