The Internet has made the world to become a small place because it provides a platform for people to interact and do business. There are so many websites that have been developed for purposes of interconnecting people using Web 2.0 technology, and they include Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, among several others.
Facebook is the most popular social networking site, and this is evidenced by the number of users that continue to increase every day. When in Facebook one can find a friend, job and many other things. Therefore, this paper focuses on how Facebook has influenced people’s lives.
Importance of Facebook
Almost everyone is talking about Facebook because on this site one can trace his/her childhood friends and get new ones. Popoola (2011) argues that the main reason why many people prefer to use this social media to communicate is because it is cheap and convenient.
This is because Facebook is not like mobile phones that require to credit, which is perceived to be very costly. In fact, all that one need is a computer that is connected to the Internet or an Internet enabled mobile phone.
The popularity of this social network has made many people to seek for literacy in the use of computers because everyone, whether old or young, wants to move as the world moves.
Anderson (2007) explains that before the coming of social networking sites such as Facebook, people used to communicate through the mobile phones and letters, which were very expensive and unreliable. Facebook provides information about people by displaying individual details of every user, which is useful for security purposes.
When on Facebook, one befriends the people he/she likes by looking at their profile information, but then the person that is being requested for friendship has to confirm that he/she is known to the person making the request.
Communication is made possible on Facebook through an electronic mailing service that allows users to send and receive messages. Alternatively, users can chat in real-time through a chat utility integrated in Facebook.
According to Bronk (2008), Facebook has helped to retain their friends, unlike before when many friendships ended as people went their different ways after going through the education system.
On Facebook, people are not required to meet physically because they can interact virtually, just like they would if they were in close vicinity. Friendships are based on interests and this has led to the rise of cross cultural interactions. In such a case, interaction is not biased because the users can befriend anyone regardless of race or gender.
Uses of Facebook
Facebook is informative because users are able to update one another on what is happening in different parts of the world. Many users are using the platform to express themselves through the status updates that are posted regularly. For instance, activists have continued to use Facebook to express their grievances.
In countries like Egypt, the government disabled the Internet because the revolution against the government was perceived to be coordinated through Facebook. By barring people from accessing the Internet, the Egyptian government was able to control the revolution, but that was not enough. This is because the stage for protesting against the government was already set.
Politicians too have changed the way they conduct their campaigns. This is because holding political rallies has many disadvantages: they could be met with a lot of hostility, and the amount of money spent on fueling their vehicles is extremely expensive (Fox, 2009).
Politicians have therefore embraced Facebook by staging their campaigns on the site because they are assured that their message will reach many people and will not be blocked in anyway. Once a user has posted something on the wall, it cannot be manipulated in anyway like in the posters that can easily be tainted or torn into pieces.
But this has not hindered politicians from holding rallies on the ground because by having alternatives of reaching their target audience their chances of success become broadened. In essence, Facebook is a useful tool especially to political aspirants who do not have all the money to go around.
Business people and companies also benefit from the capability of Facebook. For anyone who wishes to market his/her goods and services, Facebook is the ideal platform for advertising. This is because it is cheap and efficient, unlike other methods of marketing.
Facebook has many users who reside in various parts of the world, and it is ideal for companies that wish to expand their businesses. Greenstein (2009) argues that the popularity of Facebook has made many companies to include a link to the site in their websites.
In addition, there are many companies that advertise their jobs through Facebook and thus, it is a useful tool for jobseekers and employers. Most companies use the site to conduct surveys about their products and services.
This is cost effective because it would be very expensive to hire another party to conduct the survey. Moreover, the awards that are issued nowadays are influenced on the polls that take place on the social network.
Facebook has become a tool in decision making processes in most companies. This is because there are many employees who have been sacked because of the comments they posted on Facebook. Hawkins (n.d.) states that employers use social networking sites to track what their employees are doing and that way they are able to tell about the personality of their employees.
There are some employers who argue that Facebook has been contributing to their company’s decline in performance. They further explain that their employees sneak into the social network and leave their duties unattended.
Moreover, Facebook is identified as one element that fosters unity in today’s world. This is because people are able to communicate from different parts of the world without the barrier of their cultural differences.
Perhaps this is because Facebook allows people to communicate in their interactive languages, thus eliminating the problem of language barrier – the users are only present virtually and none of the communicating parties can identify any weaknesses in the other person, and judgments can only be made by the comments one posts on the wall.
Similarly, Facebook has enabled many people to find marriage partners. According to Lecky-Thompson (2009) there are so many people who are in successful marriages, owing to their interactions on Facebook. However, there are many marriages that have been ruined by this social site.
This is because most couples fight and argue about the comments made by one of them, especially towards opposite sex. The only problem here is that someone can put somebody else’s picture and thus, hide their image.
Criticism
A major drawback of Facebook is that it is difficult to understand someone’s character while interacting with them on the social network. There are also criminals who use the site to trap unsuspecting users and later holding them as hostages and sometimes end up killing them.
However, people are encouraged to meet strangers in public places to know the person much more. Facebook enables users to establish their own social circles called groups. These groups are formed by people who share common interests such assisting each other in the time of need (Lecky-Thompson, 2009).
The children are also affected by Facebook, and this has caused their performance in school to decline. Most teachers are complaining about Facebook because they say that learners have become obsessed with it such that they finish their homework in a rush, just to please the teacher.
Children are now spending most of their time chatting with their friends on the social network such that they don not have time to play constructive games like soccer, which plays a major role in making them creative and discovering their talents early enough.
However, to others, Facebook is their source of consolation because when they are annoyed, they pour it out on the network. There are many people who pass their time by just chatting or playing games on the site for the sake of avoiding boredom.
Siegler (2009) argues that the emergence of social networking sites such as Facebook is trying to bring the world together in an effort to seal the gap that was left by modernization where everyone had to go his way in search of livelihood.
Today everyone belongs to a social network because they are many and one can join and leave at their own pleasure. It is surprising to find that everyone is busy such that even parents don not have time for their children and some use the social network to interact with their children while they are away from home.
This is much better than having no time at all. Likewise, smart teachers make good use of Facebook to communicate with their learners about the lessons that require detailed explanations. Some even go a step ahead to post the assignment on the site.
Sometimes, professionals use Facebook to share information, which makes their work easier because when they are more knowledgeable they can solve issues much faster. Since most people are obsessed with Facebook, they are not able to work on their interpersonal skills on face-face basis. This is because Facebook enables people to express themselves without feeling ashamed, which is beneficial to poor communicators.
Conclusion
Currently, Facebook is the most popular social networking site that uses Web 2.0 technology, and is useful in creating awareness. The site is used frequently as an exhibit of crime where some people were found on the wrong side of the law, such as displaying explicit pictures. In some countries the site is used to spread hate speech among ethnic communities.
In such a case the government of the concerned country has had to monitor the statements posted on the site so that situations leading to civil unrest can be avoided.
Similarly, there has been a problem of hackers who manipulate users profile and pose as those individuals. However, Facebook management has put safety measures in place so that the details that can be accessed by a user are limited according to specifications of the user.
References
Anderson, T. (2007). Web 2.0 and New Media Definitions. NewCommBiz.com. Web.
Bronk, C. (2008). Convergence and Connectivity: 1 of 2. YouTube. Web.
Fox, P. (2009). Friends and Neighbors. Guardian.co.uk. Web.
Greenstein, H. (2009). Facebook pages vs Facebook groups: What’s the Difference? Web.
Hawkins, K. What is a Social Networking Site? Web.
Lecky-Thompson, G. (2009). Facebook: Good or Bad for Communication. Web.
Popoola, J. (2011). What are the Effects of Social Networking Websites? Ezine Articles. Web.
Siegler, M. (2009). Location is the Missing link between Social Networks and the Real World. Web.