TechEncyclopedia: Facebook

The most popular social networking site. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, the site is free and derives revenue from ads. The name comes from the paper document with names and faces issued to college freshmen to help them get acquainted with each other. Using the search facilities, members can locate other Facebook members and "friend" them by sending them an invitation, or they can invite people to join Facebook (see Faceslam). Facebook offers instant messaging and photo sharing, and Facebook's e-mail is the only messaging system many students ever use.

The "Wall" is the area on Facebook where members post comments as well as receive postings from friends (see Facebook Wall).

Profiles, Pages and Groups

There are three types of representation on Facebook. Individuals create a Facebook "Profile," which is normally a two-way interaction with friends. Businesses create a Facebook "Page" to promote products and brands. Also called a "Fan Page," all members are accepted as fans, and although comments can be posted by them, a Page is primarily a one-way broadcast from the business. In addition, Facebook provides demographic statistics about usage. See Facebook Like.

The third presence is a Facebook "Group," and any community of people may create one. Group administrators may accept all members or reject requests based on the Group's criteria.

Explosive Growth

Initially targeting Harvard students, Facebook was later opened to other universities and then high schools. In 2006, it allowed everyone to join and added a News Feed feature that would broadcast changes in members' pages to all Facebook users identified in their network of friends. It turned Facebook into a personalized social news service that by 2010 had 500 million members.

Facebook Platform

In 2007, Facebook introduced its application platform to developers. By 2010, more than a half million applications were available for business, education and entertainment. Games have been the most popular, and Facebook Credits were created to provide virtual money to spend while playing. See Facebook Platform.

Beacon Social Ads

In late 2007, Facebook introduced its Beacon social advertising program, which tracks Facebook users who visit advertisers' sites. Ads are then targeted to others indicating that their friend has purchased a product, rented a video or signed up for a service. The system was launched as opt-out in the beginning but later changed to opt-in. See social networking site, social advertising, opt-in and opt-out.