Sunday, December 5, 2010

Blog 9:Facebook

In the last decade computer technology has become the main form of communication. In the modern world that we live in we communicate through the use of E-mail, Instant Messaging, and text messaging. The one thing that has combined these three elements of computer communication is social networking. One of the largest and widely used social network is Facebook. Originally founded in 2004, Facebook has become a phenomena in the landscape of communication.

It was in 2006 that I began using Facebook shortly after launching my MySpace account. However I will admit I did not fully use my Facebook until last year when more and more friends of mine began using it. Since then Facebook has become my main tool of communicating with others online. As of December 5, 2010 at least 95 percent of my friends use Facebook actively and thus are able to communicate with me actively. Facebook has not only allowed me to reach current friends and relatives but also people who I have not seen or spoke to in a long time.

One of the great things about Facebook is that it has become very expansive in the last year. For example, you can now log into websites using your Facebook account thus making the websites turn into mere apps on your account that are easily accessible. Facebook has also become easily accessible through phones and consoles. For example, Facebook Mobile(which I use whenever I need to) allows you to receive notifications for whenever someone comments on a status, picture, sends your a message or when you are tagged in either a picture, note, or status along with being able to reply to those notifications and even setting your own status. It is possible as recently as earlier this year to update or check your Facebook on your X-Box 360 or I-Pod.

Another one of the biggest uses for Facebook is the ability to organize things. On Facebook you can post “events” that allow you to tell others a festivity that you're holding, where its going to be, details regarding it, the time it will occur, directions to the location and the ability to allow any of the participants to communicate on a singular page by asking and answering questions about it. Fan pages have become popular on Facebook for movies, bands, businesses, and certain people to give out information to the people that subscribe or “like” their page. In my experience I have found these things to be very useful. One of the biggest examples of this would be my recent joining of the Shepherd University Communications Department page where now I can receive information from Professor Williams, Larson, and McKahan regarding any event the department is hosting such as the Senior Capstone poster presentation from last Wednesday.

While Facebook does have a lot of great advantages, it also comes with its own disadvantages. Because it is online everything you post on their becomes public knowledge whether it is to your own personal group of friends on there or the entire internet(in the case of people who are unsure on how to use privacy settings). This has as a result made people(myself included) vulnerable to information about myself falling into the wrong hands. For example, from my personal experience I had said something very negative about another on Facebook(without saying a name). I thought they wouldn't know about it but they saw it(how so I don't know) and it caused a very bad situation, one that I regret.

Since 2004 Facebook has become the most popular and widely used way of communication on the internet. It combines elements of e-mail, text messaging, and instant messaging along with basically becoming your own computer for storing images, video, and writing blogs. Not only that but it has also expanded communication through its fan pages and event pages. In my year and a half of utilizing Facebook it has become the primary source of communication for me. For that reason I enjoy using Facebook but it is to keep in mind while those things are great it does ultimately come with a price.

If you would like to keep in touch and communicate with me you can reach me at my Facebook page

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