was found by Mark Zuckerberg. It launched in February 2004 that is operated and privately owned by Facebook but with more than 500 million active users in July 2010. The website's membership was initially limited to the students of Havard University but was later expanded to other universities. It first expanded to other university students then to high school students and finally to anyone aged 13 and over.Facebook has met with some controversy. It has been blocked in countries like Pakistan, Syria, People's Republic of China Vietnam and Iran. It has also been blocked at many companies and places of work to discourage employees from wasting time using this service. Privacy has also been an issue. Despite of all these, in January 2009 compete.com study ranked Facebook as the most used social network.
Facebook allows you to find your old friends, keep in touch with your long distance relations and to interact with your friends. It helps to maintain a healthy relationship with your friends. Now instead of twice a year phone call covering up all the bases, you can get to know everything in real time. Many get- togethers have been organised through Facebook and there are many more features Facebook lend us. I don't have to tell you about those because almost everyone is using it so you'll know them already.
An example for the fact that Facebook unites people is the incident that happened in the U.S.A in June 2010. A US woman whose two children were reported missing 15 years ago had tracked them down using Facebook. The mother had come across her child's Facebook account and had identified her children. Facebook had reunited a family.
On the other hand, few months before this happened, an Australian girl was murdered. She had posted some information about her and posted that she's interested in helping animals. A guy who had introduced him as a social worker had contacted her and they had met and the girl was murdered. The friendship gained through Facebook is the reason for the death of that girl.
Kimberley Swann, at 16 year old in the UK, was sacked from Ivell Marketing & Logistics for posting on her Facebook profile that her office administration job was boring. It was her first real office job, yes she was employed at a call centre before but this was her first office job. The company only found out after she allowed another employee to become a friend on Facebook. A post on Facebook has been the cause for losing the job.
Another incident which occurred very recently is the suicide of a 16 year Srilankan girl. This girl had had a relationship with a 19 year old Srilankan boy but who currently lives in UK. This relationship had started and had been maintained through Facebook. The guy had come to Srilanka on the 2nd of August and had visited the girl's house too. After returning to UK he had ignored this girl and it had ended up in a break up. The girl was hurt and was mentally affected. She had tried contacting him through mail and Facebook but he had ignored her. Being affected mentally the girl committed suicide.
These incidents arise the question, Is Facebook good or evil?.....
Its you and me who makes it good and evil. Facebook can be a very good social networking site until we know and be within the limits.
How to make use of Facebook???
Use Facebook as a distraction only on occasion.
Sometimes when you're sitting in your room working the whole day, you need a mental break. Taking a quick look at Facebook can be a good way to feel like you're connected to the outside world after being locked up doing whatever task you may be doing. However, don't forget that Facebook isn't the only way to break your mental block.
Don't overuse Facebook breaks.
It is all too easy for your five minute Facebook break to turn into a half hour to an hour Facebook "break". Don't let that happen; do whatever it takes to make sure your mental break doesn't turn into procrastination
Don't use Facebook to friend people you barely know and try to get in touch with them.
You friend people to start talking with them or viewing their information, or you just want more Facebook friends, this isn't the best way to use Facebook. It isn't quite evil until you start creeping on people.
Keep your informations private.
Let your informations visible and viewable only to your friends. Do not allow any one else view your profile or your photos.
Facebook will be of great help until you maintain the limits and be careful. So, think twice before you do anything. Use Facebook for your relaxation and to stay connected to your friends and relations. Look before you leap so that you won't get into problems like these.
