Facebook is an online social networking service. It was founded in February 2004 by Harvard Students in the United States, but was expanded to other colleges in Boston area. It took its name from the colloquial name for the book which was given to the students at the start of the academic year in order to help students get to know each other. Now, it allows any users aged thirteen and over to become registered users of the site. Facebook itself will send notes on people you might know, based on the fact that you went to the same school or college.Facebookis the second largest social network on the web, behind only MySpace in terms of traffic. Facebook has been gaining market share, and more significantly a supportive user base. Since their launch in February 2004, they've been able to obtain over 8 million users in the U.S. alone and expand worldwide to 7 other English-speaking countries. It has been described as a growing phenomenon.
The first thing that users do before using the site is to register. After that they may create a personal profile with their personal details and then you can start posting a few updates. These updates are statements about what you’re up to, links to interesting stuff you’ve seen elsewhere on the web.Facebook helps you find other users add them as friends so you can start to get in touch. Other users may have heard about you being on Facebook or they may have found you after doing a search. It gives you the chance to organize them by workplace, school or college. Users can also exchange messages and lately can communicate through web camera. Through Facebook you can find entertainment groups and pages that any user can attend. Facebook is also a means of marketing and bargaining. It’s an easy and affordable way to create and extend awareness of the business as well. It is the best way to communicate with customers and customers with the business. It is also an important way to generate sales.
Many researches showed that Facebook is on the highest number of any graph compared with other Social Networks. It is proved that every year the percentage of Internet visits on Facebook are increasing dramatically. AAccording to an internal September 2005 survey, approximately 85% of the students in colleges had a Facebook account, with 60% of them logging in daily. A survey performed by Student Monitor revealed Facebook was the most "in" thing after the iPod. ComScore Media Metrix discovered users spend approximately 20 minutes everyday on Facebook. Another 2005 survey said 90% of all undergraduates in the U.S. use either Facebook or MySpace regularly. Perhaps the most amazing statistic of all may be that Facebook is the 7th most trafficked site in the U.S.
