facebook

History of Facebook Initially Facebook was set up in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg , as a network for Harvard students and graduates. Early users discovered how easy it was to find friends and acquaintances on Facebook, and more people began using the network and sharing their photos, links, thoughts, ideas and party announcements. Eventually Facebook became a popular place for forming new online friendships, in addition to connecting with personal friends and family members. When members of Facebook could set up their own fan pages, and invite others to become a fan, this increased the opportunity to connect with more people. Now simply known as Facebook Pages, these allow a lot of people to follow and participate in a community page, simply by “liking” it. Facebook also provided businesses with the ideal opportunity to connect with millions of users. It quickly became essential, for anyone with an online business, a home business, or a local business, to have a Facebook page. It is also common practice for big corporations and non-profit organizations to use Facebook. Monetizing of Facebook With millions of people around the world joining and using Facebook, the potential for generating advertising revenue increased exponentially. Facebook Ads have become a huge success, because all members get to see targeted ads that relate specifically to their own interests, age and location. The impact of mobile Internet With the development of smartphones and tablet computers, more people than ever can connect to the Internet when on the move, not just when they are at home or in the office. Now there are 751 million mobile Internet users who check their Facebook feeds or post to Facebook, wherever they are; at home, at school, in the park, on the bus, when working, while traveling and even in social situations. Connecting with Facebook has become just another application on phones and other mobile Internet device. Going mainstream Facebook has now become mainstream because so many people are using it to access their feeds. Many celebrities have an official Facebook page, where fans can keep up to date with their show-biz news, and view the latest photos. Radio stations and individual presenters also have Facebook pages where listeners can post requests, ask for dedications, or add comments that will get read out on air. There has been much criticism about Facebook, and a lot of adverse publicity, due to concern over privacy issues . Despite this, millions of people around the world continue to use it for social networking, and big corporations encourage interaction with customers through Facebook. Facebook has become mainstream largely because of its rapid rise in popularity and its compatibility with mobile devices. Facebook has also become a necessary tool for businesses, and for instant online communication.