by Storm Sage

Created on: March 07, 2009

The Facebook philosophy is to 'give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected'. Millions of users have joined Facebook to keep in contact with friends.

Facebook however is not only used for social networking, it has functions that allow you to create groups (business or individuals), upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.to promote yourself, business or products; it also has the ability to allow users to develop their own wiki applications i.e. games, calanders, surveys.

At first getting to know the site and all of its functions can be daunting, however for the technological minded person it is quite easy to get the hang of. Before you set up your bio information you should access your security settings and make sure they are set according to your needs; for example a person or business that would like to be accessible to the public will have different security settings to an individual who only wants to network with people they know and not publicly.

Security for many is primary concern when using social networking websites. Facebook has great resources that allow you to keep up with any known security threats or issues. Advice provided by Facebook suggest things such as: -

- Choose a password that is different to your other internet accounts. If another of your accounts with the same password gets breached then your Facebook account is at risk.

- As with your pin number on your bankcard, dont share your password with anyone.

- If a link or message appears to be suspicious, don't click on it.

- Only enter your password when you know you have to. If you are prompted to enter your password somewhere and you are unsure about it check with Facebook, better safe than sorry.

- Facebook users are also its monitors. If you see or receive any spam, abusive content or explicit content you are obliged to report it.

- Add a security question. This will assist you in proving that it is your account if you ever need to.

The Facebook security pages also have many useful links and information to assist with virus or malware scanning and infections; the support given to users is prompt and helpful providing high quality and yet easily understood advice for its users.

Facebook advertising is also a rapidly growing way of reaching a huge audience with over 177,000,000 users worldwide. The advertising options include Pay Per Click or Pay for Clicks payment options, allowing for any budget to conduct a Facebook advertising campaign.

Overall Facebook is a great networking tool for internet users at all skill levels, from the novice to the expert and the developers seem to be continuously looking at ways to improve and expand on their available options and services which can only benefit Facebook users.

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