2. Similar Features of Social Networking
Sites
Among all social networking sites are some shared abilities of users:
• The ability to create a profile.
• The ability to designate other members as friends/contacts.
• The ability to identify a friend's friends.
In addition, there are a few properties of Social Networking sites which can
be seen and managed by users such as :
• Status messages
• Profile pages
• Friend/Contact lists
3. Using Facebook
In order to use Facebook, one must first sign up on the homepage at
http://www.facebook.com
A user must then create a personal profile page. Information on this page
includes: gender, birthday, hometown, interests, and favorites.
Once a profile page is created, a user can then begin to "dress up" their
account by adding photos and filling out more information on their
interests, hobbies, etc.
After an account is established and the profile is filled out, the user can
then begin adding friends. On Facebook, both parties must accept the
friend request in order for them to be added to their respective accounts.
Finally, a user can begin posting status messages on their "Wall," the area
where friends can their status messages, as well as their friend's.
4. Common Features Within Facebook
Facebook Wall - The area in which all users can see posted status
messages.
Photo and Video Uploader - An application which allows users to upload
their personal photos and videos, giving them the ability to give the media
titles, comments, and tags.
News Feed - A log of several recent actions performed on the site.
Friend Recommendation - Based on your friends list, Facebook
automatically searches your friend's friend list to recommend contacts to
you.
Applications - One of the most popular features within Facebook;
Facebook contains thousands of applications ranging from games to
personality quizzes which users can take advantage of.
5. Applications
A big part of Facebook's popularity is due to its hosting of thousands of
applications.
The Facebook Application Directory page allows users to browse through
all of the applications available to users.
There are many different types of applications. Some examples are the
Facebook Causes application which displays organizations or causes you
wish to support, sports-based applications which allow you to follow sports
teams and news, and iLike, which allows users to read about and write
reviews for movies and music.
Third-party developers create many applications which are shown on
Facebook. The main type of applications are interactive games, such as
Farmville.
6. Privacy
As with many social networking sites, privacy is a main concern of its users.
Because of this, each social networking site has its own privacy policy
which describes how the site will use your personal information.
Facebook may share information with other members, third-party
applications, and advertisers to use for market research.
Users have the option of changing who can view their information, how
other users can find you, which activities of yours are visible to others, and
how applications and search engines can use your information. These
options can be changed in the Privacy Settings menu.
Even if you deactivate your account, your information is stored on
Facebook's servers in case you wish to reactivate it later.
