The Facts About Facebook - Term Paper Example

Insert Facebook, previously known as The Facebook, is one of the main social networking sites in the world and one that has single-handedly connected the whole world at the touch of a button, revolutionized global relations and made the world in its truest meaning, a small village. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg alongside his roommates at Harvard University who include Chris Hughes, Dustin Moskovitz, Andrew McCollum and Eduardo Saverin. As of September 2014, statistics indicated that the site had over 864 million active users per day and that the network, headquartered in Melno Park, California, US., had over 8,350 employees in the same time with Mark Zuckerberg serving as chairman and CEO while Sheryl Sandberg stands in as the COO. The company is traded as NASDAQ:FB in the stock exchange market (Harvell, 24-30). Facebook was founded in February 4th 2004 and served only small regions in the United States in the next one year. However, in the following years, that is, from 2005 to date, the site has been operational worldwide (as it is now used by various individuals, organizations and governments) with its global presence ever increasing. The founders at the beginning had restricted membership only to students of Harvard but later allowed membership in neighboring colleges in Boston such as Stanford University and the Ivy League. Currently, through its webpage, www.facebook.com, the site permits persons over age 13 to register as members then create for themselves user profiles, add other users as friends, like other brands/ persons/ groups, post photos and status updates, receive numerous relevant notifications, share videos and exchange messages (Harvell, 65-81). I recently engaged and observed a few people in my quest to find out just how much the social network has changed people’s lives and dramatically revolutionized their ways of doing and seeing things. The results and views are quite frankly overwhelming with most persons able to cite with utmost confidence the numerous advantages and disadvantages of engaging the site. Mrs. Gordon, for instance, appreciates the fact that through Facebook, she has been able to successfully reconnect with long lost friends especially from her college years simply by typing their names, searching for them then sending them messages/ adding them as friends. She quips, “I have reacquired friends whose contacts I had lost long ago and dear people who I thought I would never see or talk to again through Facebook.” Moreover, Mrs. Gordon argues that Facebook is the most powerful and widely used social media and social networking site and because of this, she has been able to meet new people (make new friends/ like-minded people) from any part of the world and therefore learn more about different world cultures, languages, cuisines, dress-codes, values, customs and traditions without having to attend lectures on the same. Facebook can also lead to relationships that could culminate into precious memories and marriages. My neighbor Derrick says that he met and courted his life-mate, lover and wife, Linda May, on the site. “It was simple really,” he says, “I met her in one of my friend’s status updates and agreed with her comment (liked it) then a look at her profile picture had me completely awestruck by her pure beauty. So I took a leap of faith and sent her a friendship request. In the following week when I logged in, I found a notification of her acceptance. A few years down the line, we are happily married with two kids.” He adds that he finds the site quite convenient as it allows for privacy especially through messages that are strictly between the sender and the receiver and can therefore be used for confidential messages. On the other hand, if one wishes to be less private, they can simply post updates, photos, videos, audios, and so on, on their walls or on those of their friends. The site is tailored to specifically cater for each person’s preferences and can be quite essential in long-distance relationships instead of the costly phone calls overseas, for instance. Shirley Martins is fascinated by Facebook. She says her daily dealings couldn’t have gotten much easier. Whenever she needs to convey information to a friend or receive correspondence, Facebook has been quite helpful. She adds that as a class representative for a college unit, she simply created a class group where she can post messages concerning upcoming or postponed activities, lectures, assessments, and so on, and also pass messages from the lecturer without the trouble of making posters or searching for her classmates manually. Her classmates who often check the group for information at least twice every week have found her innovation quite convenient for them. A brief encounter with a local politician also shed more light on how Facebook has become deeply ingrained in the workings of the society. He fondly recalls that Facebook was one of the key platforms of his campaigns and one that his team used effectively to reach voters and gain their support/ sell his manifesto/ agenda. He says that their rampant online campaign in Facebook was one of the reasons that he was able to win the elections, and it was free too! All they did was creating groups and attract voter attention and open dialogue between him and the voters. Facebook has also been utilized by a plethora of business teams in their marketing endeavors (for free and therefore saving on operational costs). Mr. Chandaria mentions that his business predominantly uses Facebook to update consumers on new products, programs, modifications, discounts, prices, uses and many more. Facebook has also provided the consumers a good platform to air issues of concern, ask questions and order for products. Through Facebook, Chandaria and his team are able to determine trending and dynamic tastes and preferences of their large and interactive consumer base and thus offer goods that are truly appreciated in the market. Maryanne says that Facebook compliments her particular lifestyle. Being an indoors person who rarely goes out physically socializing, she has been able to keep herself updated and in touch with current matters in politics, sports, fashion, entertainment, weather, events, health and many more, unlike in the past when her recluse tendencies rendered her ignorant of a number of issues that were taking place in the world around her. Generally, throughout my survey, I discovered that depending on the intention and wise us e of this social site, Facebook can be a certain game changer in the lives of these persons who use it well. Through Facebook, lasting relationships and marriages have been made possible, businesses have grown, and people have risen into power or gained meaningful employment. I can ceaselessly rant about the benefits that Facebook can accrue in the life of a user. However, if misused, Facebook can be a total nightmare. Many have complained about the evils that they have witnessed from this site and others more have since stopped using the site altogether or have deactivated/ deleted their accounts. Chris recalls an unpalatable event in which a beautiful lady his age had made advances on him in Facebook, and being single at the time, he replied her advances cordially. When they agreed on a rendezvous, however, he was shocked to find his college mates at the meeting point, laughing their ribs out. It was then that it dawned on him that a fake profile had been used to prank him. He remembers feeling more empty than embarrassed as he had already had his hopes high regarding this fictitious female acquaintance. These and other cases of false profiles have been reported around the world with teenage girls often falling victims of stalkers and harassment that usually leaves them depressed and suicidal. Facebook has also quite regularly been used to abuse and violate other religions, personalities and nations, as a couple of my interviewees held. 21 year old Chris Raymond is among the millions of global Facebook users who lament that they can no longer manage their addictions to the site. He says Facebook has become prominent part of his lifestyle and an irreplaceable one that he loses a lot of time in the end in the internet, browsing even late into the night. In the meantime, his class grades have continued to deteriorate as he is no longer able to competently handle his part-time job because of his relentless and unforgiving addiction to Facebook. As it is, he fears he will graduate with very wanting scores, and will struggle to retain a job, if he will land any. Janet, a divorced single parent, blames Facebook for her woes in marriage. According to her, her husband’s addiction to the site caused him to become distant and unconcerned about the affairs of his struggling wife and family and this led to a painful dissolution of her decade long marriage as eventually became strangers living in the same house. But she is not alone in her cries. Millions across the globe continue to blame the site for the breakdown experienced in their marriages from promiscuity fueled by the site or an untamed addiction. Facebook has been blamed for the soaring divorce rates and disintegration of family ties in the world and in recent news, a mother killed her child for crying too much due to hunger while she was browsing through Facebook. In other news, a man murdered his wife for changing her relationship status from “Married” to “Complicated”. Works Cited Harvell, Ben. Facebook. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2014; 24, 78. Print. Read More