Pros and Cons of Joining Facebook

It seems like everyone is using Facebook these days. Some people are still unsure about using it. This week each post will be about Facebook. It is not a attempt to get you to use it if you have not. I think it is good for you to make your own decision. That is why this first post talks about the pros and cons of using it.  If you have any questions or comments I hope you will add them.

INTRODUCTION TO FACEBOOK

Facebook is the largest Social Network (online program that connects people) and has around 750 million active users. Listed below are some of the features of the site:

FRIENDS

Facebook exists to connect friends to each other. When you sign up for facebook at first you do not have any friends. You have to invite people to be your friend and they have to confirm before they are added to your page and you get their status updates. Some people try for the most friends possible and 'friend' anyone that they possibly know, others only 'friend' family members. It is up to you. You can also UNFRIEND someone. This takes them off of your friend list, but they are not notified and must take notice themselves that they are no longer receiving your updates.

STATUS

When a person is logged into the site there is a box at the top where you can type a little about yourself. You can also post a picture here or link to something on the Internet. People often link to YouTube videos. Whatever you put here can only be seen by the people that you have set up in your privacy settings. When you have friends you will see a list of their status updates when you log in. When they log in, if it is near the same time you posted they will see what you wrote.

POKES

If you use the SEARCH at the top you can find people. On their page you can see what they have allowed you to see in their privacy settings, but you can also "POKE" them.  All this means is that they get a note saying that "_____ has poked you, do you want to poke them back?" If you don't have something to say to someone, but want to let them know that you have been to their page you can POKE them.

MESSAGES

Younger people tend not to do email anymore. They do Facebook. They get on and check the status messages on the front of the page. At the top there is a little red bubble with a number on it that shows what has changed since you last logged in. It indicates if you have any messages. You can then go and read them and reply. It works a lot like email.

PHOTOS

This is the largest reason that many people use Facebook. It is easy to upload photos from your computer or camera and to make them available to anyone. Again, this is something you set up in your profile. When you put a picture up on Facebook it is stored in the cloud on one of Facebook's servers. You can create albums of pictures with a maximum of 200 pictures per album. This is all free.

LIKE PAGES

Organizations or companies can start pages and instead of 'friending' them you like them. When a LIKE PAGE posts something it will go on your page and be listed in your STATUS updates, but when you post it does not go to their page. Lots of companies are asking you to "like" them on Facebook. They are hoping that this will get them more business. I'm Not a Geek has just set up a LIKE PAGE. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Im-Not-a-Geekcom/151675098246963. It has 7 friends so far! People are only allowed to have ONE Facebook page.

GROUPS

If you have a group of friends or a committee that needs a place online to share and connect you can sign up for a GROUP. A group creates a password protected space whoever created it is the Administrator and everyone else needs to be invited or request and be approved to belong.

NOTES

This is a little like a blog. You can write longer posts about anything you want and it scrolls chronologically with the newest at the top.

GIFTS

You can actually purchase (for real money) gifts for your friends on facebook. These are virtual items that cost $1.

MARKETPLACE

Facebook has targeted ads that show up on the side of your page. These ads show up depending on the location and interests of the person who is logged in. The person who creates the ad pays Facebook every time the ad is clicked.

CHAT-VIDEO CHAT

Facebook has a feature that allows you to CHAT in realtime with any of your friends that are online. Either on the right sidebar or on the bottom of the left bar it tells who is online. If you click on one of them the chat window opens at the bottom and you can type a message that will show up immediately on their page. Then they can type back. Facebook is

WORLDWIDE

Facebook is popular worldwide. When I was in Bethlehem all of the kids knew about and were using Facebook. I have friends in Turkey who post in Turkish, in the Palestinian West Bank who post in Arabic, in Mexico who post in Spanish, and even in Denmark who post in Danish

POSITIVE

There are many positive reasons for using Facebook.

• Many people have reunited with old friends or family members. 
• It is an easy place to share photos of yourself and your family for others to see. 
• It allows people to see things about you that you may not have shared or had time to tell them. When we were recently doing a home remodel I posted pictures of the progress as it happened. I was surprised at the number of people from my work that commented on it. I have also been aware of vacations or important things that have happened to coworkers that I may not have known about and it helped build closeness.
• It is easy to share one thing to everyone you know with one message.

NEGATIVE

• Many people are concerned about privacy issues with Facebook. At times the company has seemed to not respect the privacy of users, but because of backlash has set up easier to use settings. Setting privacy settings in Facebook will be another post. There are many choices so that you can customize who can see which parts of your page. However, there is always concern about privacy when so much of your own content is stored on someone else's servers.
• Another common concern is bullying. This has become quite a problem for teenagers. It is very easy to victimize someone online and make fun of their profile. Some people have also found out how to hack into others accounts.
• An interesting and unclear topic is who owns all of the content on Facebook. Do they have the right to your information and photos or do you still own them after you have posted them there? What about when someone passes away? What happens to their profile and their page?

Much of the content of the Intro to Facebook came from Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook