by Bruce Tyson

Created on: February 20, 2010

Facebook is all the rage right now, but still, many people don’t really know very much about it. Do you remember MySpace? That used to be the big fad, but somehow it got overtaken by Facebook. Why this happened may be a matter of opinion, but the fact that Facebook is the online place to be is a fact.

A lot of public awareness has to do with bad publicity. There have been suicides resulting from people posting humiliating photos and information on Facebook. Sexual predators, stalkers, and identity thieves have had a heyday through Facebooks fast-and-loose- privacy policies. Then there are all the issues with employers spying on potential, current, and ex employees, lawyers gathering evidence for divorces and law suits, and prosecutors building criminal cases. Add to the mix all the online scammers and spammers who get as many Facebook friends as they can so they can sell their nebulous wares. Facebook is a lot of things, but officially, it’s part of the social networking phenomenon.

Starting as a tool to connect college students with each other, Facebook has emerged as one of the most popular Web sites on the Internet. At one place, you can keep tabs on lots of people you know and make new friends to boot. People update their status to let everyone know what they are doing and where they are. They indicate their relationship status so you know if they are “available” or not. You can see pictures of everybody doing everything. You can re-connect with old friends from your past. There’s no way you can make telephone calls to all the people on your friends list every day. You can’t write them letters or send them emails, but it is really easy to log into Facebook and see at a glance what’s going on in all your friends’ lives.

In spite of all its drawbacks, Facebook is fun: that’s why it’s so popular. Together with enhanced privacy options, Facebook is becoming even more popular because people who used to be afraid of it are now more comfortable with using the site. Also, features like groups are now available where you can follow your favorite politicians, music groups, celebrities, and TV personalities. When you become a Facebook “fan” of these entities, you have the chance to get the most up-to-date information about the people and things you care about most.

Facebook is more about friends, fans, and information too: there are all kinds of games you can play from trivia to social statements that are lots of fun. You can share and compare the results of the games with your friends, making the Facebook experience even more fun.

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