My intermediate writing class is currently focusing on writing reviews. I chose to write a reviwe on Facebook as a successful social networking site. Check it out! :)

Will You Be My Friend on

      

Twitter, Flickr, Blogger, Yahoo, Google, Bebo, Zoosk, Facebook, and more! Social networking is the latest trend. It’s a natural desire to want to jump into the hottest social scene; so, which site should you join?

Social networking sites have exploded with popularity by modernizing the process of communication. Convenience is an important key to success and these websites have unlocked the world.

What was initially presented as a membership-required website for Harvard students was launched in February of 2004 as a social networking site available to the public. Facebook quickly erupted with fame. By January of 2012, Facebook was recorded to have approximately 800 million active users.

When it comes to social networking, Facebook is the Zeus of sites. The navigation and presentation of the site is extremely user friendly, but leaves little room for imagination. After login, users are presented with a “News Feed” page. Facebook highlights this page to display recent friend and group updates, allowing fairly basic and restricted customizations. Along the top of the screen, a stationary taskbar allows easy access to friend requests, private messages, and notifications. Facebook’s simplicity allows all users, young and old, to easily find their way throughout the site; this specific feature, I believe, has been one of the key elements involving the site’s success.     

According to ConsumerReports.org from May of 2011, 7.5 million users, under the age of thirteen, had accounts.

Each user’s profile, or “wall,” streams “get to know you” information about them. Whether the content includes juicy gossip, simple past times, or blog descriptions, it is solely up to the user.  This page is displayed as a giant timeline of events, posts, and picture uploads since registration. The Timeline profile view is a new Facebook feature. The weekend before 2012, Facebook rolled out the new theme for testing. Many avid Facebook users, including myself, were surprised by the change. Though this social networking site has updates routinely, Facebook has never strayed far from it’s generic profile. With this new update, Facebook has gone above and beyond to allow more personalization on user’s profile pages. Though this customization may appear to be more appealing, privacy is now, even more, of a concern that it was before. Every application accessed, post placed, friend request accepted, or blog filed is documented on this screen, leaving users continually exposed. The lack of privacy is hardly fresh for devoted social networking consumers like myself; however, newbies will need to quickly learn the ropes if they plan to keep their content private.  

Facebook has quickly spun into a world-wide trend! Everyone has Facebook and now they can have it anywhere and everywhere! Because of it’s simple presentation, Facebook is available in many different contexts, making use even more popular, including on cell phones, tablets, laptops, and even many gaming consoles that have access to the internet. This allows Facebook to be used on the go. When used mobily, a “check in” option allows users to record their location using a GPS. A map, one of the new Timeline features, allows users to add photos to the locations where they have “checked in.” This map displays photos and comments of everywhere the user and their friends have “been.”

With every social networking site, risks and privacy should always be a concern. Facebook provides several specific privacy settings, including managing who can view your information and how much of it you want to be visible. Blocking and restricting specific users from accessing your information is also an option. This is a helpful feature in situations of harassment and/or unwanted contact. The site’s terms of service requires users to be at least thirteen years of age to register for an account. According to ConsumerReports.org from May of 2011, 7.5 million users, under the age of thirteen, had accounts. Facebook attempts to limit membership by age; however, falsifying information to proceed through registration appears easily possible; therefore, the age restriction for Facebook seems rather pointless. Though Facebook does have a variety of privacy settings, every Facebook upgrade resets these settings and re-accessing them is quite a task. Everyone with a Facebook account knows that it is incredibly exasperating having to reset security settings following every single update. Certainly a twelve year old would struggle with remember to do this consistently.

Facebook has a surplus of applications and games available to users. Whether you are looking for logic, action, role playing, or health conscious applications, Facebook likely has it. The availability of these games has increased the site’s popularity by keeping users online longer. While browsing these applications, I was unsatisfied to notice the websites desire to “request permission” to access my personal information. Due to anticipation of the application to come, I attempted to overlook this request, as many others do. I was quite alarmed; however, when I acknowledged the site’s attempt to post spam with my identity. You may deny the application these rights; however, the application will not be available for use. Those of us, who don’t always read between the lines, might suffer quite a bit of frustration when noticing Facebook’s attempt to exploit us.

Facebook is, generally, a free social networking site; because of this, many sponsors and advertisements are presented on each Facebook page. These advertisements flood the news feed, displaying a constant flow of ads. I noticed, that personal information is retracted from each profile, including likes and dislikes, to allow the sponsors to show advertisements that pertain to each user specifically. Online shoppers may find this as an aid in satisfying their spree; however for many, knowing that Facebook is sharing personal information with advertisement companies can be quite alarming. Being cautious to use few and/or specific applications would assist in keeping the user’s personal information inaccessible. Many users view constant advertisements as unnecessary content and could argue Facebook’s attempt to profit through sponsors to be a flaw. Facebook administrators have fought over the years to keep their site free of membership charge. Aside from the money received from some applications, Facebook primarily profits from sponsoring advertisements. Though, I too, view these ads as a nuisance, I would prefer to be bombarded with aids daily than to be charged a membership fee.

Hundreds of social networking sites flood the web today; Facebook does well to outshine most, if not all, of them. Though this site does struggle with privacy concerns, steps can be taken to improve one’s security settings and be aware of the necessary risks involved in an online social site. With its wide range in applications, an unlimited supply of users, and it’s constant upgrades and improvements, Facebook is an undoubted success.