by Leigh Goessl

Created on: May 22, 2009   Last Updated: June 10, 2011

Facebook is a social networking website that rapidly grew to become one of the biggest, if not the biggest, 'hot spots' on the Internet. The website is a place where people network, connect and catch up with one another.

Social networking websites in general have taken society by storm. Today you'll notice in addition to Facebook, other sites such LinkedIn, Twitter, Classmates and many other niche websites are still used. If someone isn't a member, chances are they've at least heard of these sites.

All this taken into consideration, how does Facebook fit in the overall scheme of being a valuable website to join?

There are many good reasons why a person would want to sign up for a Facebook account. The desire to find long lost classmates, look for family members, to meet new people, or to network and market themselves are primary motivators to join. The reasons are countless as to why a Facebook membership would be beneficial.

When assessing the value of Facebook, this is a little different from the motivators because there are many advantages and drawbacks to joining. Here are some of the pros and cons:

Advantages

• Great for reconnecting

If you want to find and reconnect with someone from your past, Facebook is one of the best places to go. Unlike MySpace, most people use their real names and have personal information in their profiles. Facebook is one of the best ways to locate that missing someone you'd like to talk to or have back in your life.

• Ease of communication

Facebook is an efficient way to keep in contact with many people on a regular basis. Using the Facebook interface, people can communicate to many people at once and keep people abreast of what's going on in their lives.

The tools provided by Facebook enable people to communicate with many people at once through status updates, comments on walls, uploads of photos, videos or links.

All too often individual phone calls and emails get lost in the shuffle in a busy lifestyle and Facebook helps fill that need to talk to people and stay connected. More and more family and friends are using the Facebook interface to keep in touch and maintain contact.

• Keep contact with people you don't ordinarily see

Members of Facebook can see what's going on with acquaintances, colleagues and other people they don't talk to on a regular basis offline. Many people have become 'Facebook friends' with people they likely wouldn't have connected with in any other way.

As a result new bonds are made

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