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            Social networking has grown increasingly popular over the last several years.  Facebook now has almost 600 million registered users, making it the top social site on the web. This site brings together friends and family around the globe with status updates, instant messaging, and pictures, all for free. 58 percent of Facebook users are in countries other than the United States. Users can connect via computers, cell phones, IPods, and other electronic devices with an Internet connection (Petro, 2011).

            Facebook was founded in 2004 by Harvard student, Mark Zuckerberg, and originally named “thefacebook.com”. It was initially only available for Harvard students to meet and get to know each other on an online format. Soon, it became so popular, that it was offered to other colleges. Then came high schools, and now it is available to anyone with an internet connection, with the exception that the user is over the age of thirteen (Roeder, 2011).

            Facebook offers thousands of applications, including games and quizzes. Games, such as Farmville, have been a huge hit for Facebook. They are so popular that gift cards for Zynga games can be purchased at retail stores.  The user’s wall is basically a blog, using status updates to keep friends updated on their life. Friends and family can make comments on the wall. Pictures and videos can be added to profiles. Companies can get free advertising by making a profile page and getting people to “like” it.  All of this on one website, who could ask for more? Facebook is not only entertaining, but is an affordable (free) way to stay in contact with friends and family all over the world (Petro, 2011).

            Since Facebook is free, it relies on investors, like advertisers, to keep the business going. That doesn’t seem to be a problem for the most popular social networking site on the Web. It is said that Facebook is worth over $50 billion, which has tripled since just last year. So, to say that Facebook is a pop culture icon would be very accurate.

 

                                                                http://www.facebook.com/

References

Petro, B. (2011, February 3). History of facebook: The social network at seven. Retrieved may 22, 2011, from Bill Petro: http://billpetro.com/history-of-facebook.

Roeder, L. (2011). Where did facebook come from? Retrieved May 22, 2011, from About.com: http://personalweb.about.com/od/makefriendsonfacebook/a/whatisfacebook_5.htm.