As the demand for instant communication increases, technological developments have made it possible for people and organizations to satisfy their communication and interactive needs using social media. In the recent past, major social websites have emerged (Funk, 2012).
Large corporations such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Google and LinkedIn are some of the major organizations that have developed comprehensive and effective websites that provide people and organizations with the ability to communicate instantly and free of geographical barriers (Funk, 2012).
Facebook is perhaps the largest and most effective social site that has converted the world into a small village where people can interact, socialize, and exchange information and ideas and do business free of geographical and social barriers (Funk, 2012). Facebook’s instant messaging and updating systems are perhaps the site’s most important strong points.
The initial idea of developing Facebook was to allow students at Harvard University communicate and exchange ideas from their personal computers. It also aimed at providing students with a platform on which they would update their feelings, points of view and other social and academic aspects and allow their colleagues to note and comment on them if necessary.
The brain behind the idea was Mark Zuckerberg, a student at Harvard University faculty of computer science. It was known as “The Face Book” when it was first launched at Harvard in 2003. Since then, the company has expanded and moved from Harvard to California, becoming a global social and business website.
Facebook has a number of features that make it both a social and business website. First, it is worth looking at the features that make it a social site. Facebook requires an individual to register as a member and obtain a personal account.
The process is simple because it requires users to provide their basic details such as email or telephone addresses, age, names (whether actual or pseudonyms), gender, location, occupation, school and other details. However, the site has a limited number of compulsory requirements such as email and/or telephone address for communication. It allows users to provide real or unreal details, including names, gender, occupation and others. As such, one can own a number of accounts.
Once a person becomes a user, he or she can search other users in a system known as “find friends”. Once a ‘friend’ is located, the user sends a request for friendship and waits for approval. If approved, the two users become virtual friends on Facebook and can follow each other or find what the other is feeling, thinking or wants to do at a given time.
In addition, Facebook has an instant messaging system that allows users to exchange messages within a matter of seconds in what is known as “chatting” (Maver, 2011). This tool is important because it allows users to exchange important and private information that cannot be safe when relayed through other means.
Moreover, it allows users to form or join groups such as alumni of former schools or employees in the same organization. They can communicate, share problems and ideas and socialize freely through this platform.
However, it is worth noting that Facebook is not good for children. For instance, there is little effort to censor the system, which allows users to post obscene information, pictures, videos or links to other sites with such information. It is likely to destroy social morals and social values when children and young people are involved. In addition, it allows users to carry out cybercrime, which affects a large number of people every year.
References
Funk, T. (2012). Social Media Playbook for Business: Reaching Your Online Community with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and More: Reaching Your Online Community with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and More. New York, NY: ABC-CLIO.
Maver, J. J. (2011). Essential Facebook Development: Build Successful Applications for the Facebook Platform. New York, NY: Addison-Wesley Professional.