THE BEAUTY OF FACEBOOK

Different people, different roles. Everyone finds a use on Facebook to network, share experiences and showcase their talent.

You just got poked, “Your friend just threw a Sheep at you”. “You’ve been bitten by the Vampire”; at first use, the ‘Social Networking’ platform Facebook does seem like a whole number of things, a virtual war-zone, a juvenile hang-out or a criminal waste of time.

What is it then about Facebook which has seen it attain cult popularity across the world, popularity which translates into 20 billion minutes of usage every month, a valuation of approximately 15 billion dollars and addictive usage by young and old alike?

Facebook have connected more than 250 million people around the world and the numbers of new accounts growing day by day. As hardcore users would swear, the site’s strength lies in its neat design and interface, a ‘news feed’ which keeps users updated on their friends’ activities, and a niftyphoto tag feature which has made it the most widely used photography site in the world.

True to the saying, ‘No man is an island’, the site is structured to enable a user to both communicate and find out about the developments in the lives of his social circle in a convenient and non-intrusive fashion.

The site was started by Mark Zuckerberg in February 2004, then a student at the Harvard Law School. Zuckerberg initially opened it out only to the students of Harvard enabling them to connect and share notes.

It soon spread to other Ivy League schools. About a year or so later, like with so many other technology stories, Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard to run the site full-time.

By then Facebook had already become the ‘in’ thing in college and school campuses. In September 2006, it was opened to the public and the response was phenomenal.

One of the joys of Facebook is the different roles it plays for different people who use it, be it photographers, politicians, artists, writers, students, employees, entrepreneurs or retired individuals, everyone finds a use in Facebook to network, share experiences and showcase their talent.

Parents use Facebook to keep track of the activities of their children abroad, while many use the site for inviting people to parties and events, the site also enabling users to send their RSVPs online.

Another big differentiator between Facebook and other platforms is the open platform which allows developers to create applications and make revenue through advertising on the site.

In many ways, Facebook has changed the way the world has perceived social networking.

Like with most cults and addictions, it does have its detractors too who believe that a lot of activity on Facebook is meaningless, others believe there is a loss of privacy. But the positives far outweigh the negatives, so much so a Facebook profile is soon becoming like a passport on the Internet.