by Michael Haft

Created on: December 24, 2010

A social network service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on building and reflecting of social relations among people, e.g., who share interests and/or activities.- Wikipedia (Social Network Service)

Facebook is one of many social networking websites but stands out in its interface and high popularity, thus allowing for the creation and building of social relations among millions of people. Before social networking sites, we had email and we still do but it is now incorporated more in the professional parts of our lives than in the social aspects. Facebook is really not a waste of time as you can do so many useful things on it. There are many parts and uses for Facebook: 

Clubs and Groups

Do you have a club? Well, if your members are Facebook members, you can create your group on Facebook and send messages to its members about meeting times and locations, interesting topics, etc. You could even get more people to join your club by allowing others to see the club's wall.

Promoting Businesses

Facebook is great for business. Although this question is directed toward users, Facebook can be used to promote businesses and people who go to certain stores, offices, etc, can receive updates about new sales, new products, and can discover new businesses whose services may benefit them.

Sharing Photos

Wondering what happened at last night's party? Well if your friend has a Facebook account, he can post the pictures he took last night for all his friends to see, including you. Instead of you going all the way to his home, or emailing him asking for photos, he can post them on his wall and you can look them up. Commenting on photos is just one way of communicating about how you feel about them.

Just chatting with friends

Weather it be through blasting comments at each other, or posting on each other's walls, or using Facebook's chat feature, you can chat with most of your friends through Facebook. Many people have said that a face to face conversation is better than chatting over the internet but what if you're talking to a crowd of friends or if your talking to friends from across the country or even the globe? Conventional email feels like sending letters to one another, having to send email back and forth whereas Facebook makes it all simpler by allowing you to quickly chat with family, coworkers, and friends over the web.

Times have changed

Face it, this is a whole new generation of society and technology. 50 years ago (or a little bit less), a computer would take up a whole room. Now it can fit in the palm of your hand. Before, the fastest way to communicate with someone was over the phone and now that has even improved through wireless technology. People of this generation now use Facebook as a tool to talk and share ideas and moments with others. Its just happened to work out that way.

I do have to admit despite all this, there are PARTS of Facebook that are a waste of time and those are the games. Games like Farmville are a waste of time as one pays money to receive virtual cash to raise a virtual farm. Now that, my friends is a waste of time but other than the numerous games that populate Facebook that require you to come back over and over and over again, Facebook itself is not truly a waste of time but rather a means of communication and the other things as described above.

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