The only thing constant about the internet is change. The latest fad to sweep the world is Facebook - a form of social networking that is enjoying a phenomenal growth in popularity.

Facebook is the second largest social network on the web, behind only MySpace in terms of traffic. Originally focussed on high school and college students, Facebook has been gaining market share, and more significantly a supportive user base.

Since their launch in February 2004, they’ve been able to obtain over eight million users in the U.S. alone and expand worldwide to dozens of other English-speaking countries, with more to follow. Of course, by the time you finish reading this, several thousand new users will have registered.

Facebook was founded by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg who ran it as one of his hobby projects with some financial help from a friend. Within months it had spread to other Ivy League campuses, and it’s now a worldwide phenomena.

Of course, the success has not come without problems. Those former college friends of Zuckerberg have dragged him into court claiming he stole their idea, business plan and computer coding. The case has been adjourned for two weeks… by then another million or so people will have registered.

So just what is Facebook?  Facebook is an online utility that lets you find people, new friends or long lost friends, workmates, or find out who’s living around you. You can create groups and events to contact people with similar interests. Once you add a friend to your Facebook friends list, you will always know when they are adding to their notes or updating their profile.

You can join Facebook.com groups to meet people like yourself or browse the profiles to find other new friends. It is the internet equivalent to a walk down high street on a Saturday morning.

It’s free. All that’s needed to join Facebook is a valid email address. To connect with coworkers or classmates, use your school or work email address to register. Once you register, join a regional network to connect with the people in your area.

When you first set up a Facebook account you can create a profile, providing as much or as little detail as you choose. You can also restrict who is permitted to see your profile. A typical Facebook profile consists of a number of different sections, including Information, Status, Friends, Friends in Other Networks, Photos, Notes, Groups, and The Wall, a place where friends can leave you graffiti like messages. Most of the sections are self-explanatory. 

Along with the profile you can upload pictures, again with control over who can view them. Then, once you are registered you can then search for other Facebook users, or you can sit back and wait for long lost friends to find you. How popular is it? Well, about 1.5 million photos are uploaded daily!

Facebook Groups

Just like every other social network, Facebook has something called ‘groups.’ Users can create new groups or join and participate in existing groups. This is also displayed in their profile and is a good indication of hobbies and interests a person might have.

There are two kinds of groups, a normal group and a secret group, which isn’t shown on your profile. A normal group is just like any other, but users can also create and invite others into secret groups. These can be used for collaborating on projects, and provide a way to have closed discussions. About 80% of the groups are ‘fun-related’ and companies can even sponsor groups - as is the case with, for example, the Apple users group.

Facebook Events

Another Facebook success is their ‘events’ feature, which provides the ability to organise, be part of, and plan for events. This feature has been extremely successful when it comes to organising parties. Along with organising and joining events, users can also invite and recommend others to an event.

Facebook Notes
Facebook Notes allows users to write a Facebook blog, sort of a daily diary. All notes are displayed in the user’s profile, and other members can add comments. Again you can restrict access to your notes page.

Facebook is a massively successful social networking service that grew to prominence in virtually no time. It’s not hard to see why: its features and tools are highly appealing, and Facebook users are extremely well networked in real life.

Rumours of an acquisition continue to circulate, with some estimates putting the price in the billions of dollars. In the short term, however, Facebook plans to go it alone, continuing to build out one of the world’s most successful social networks.

Facebook has also been host to other issues and concerns, especially in the privacy sector where its privacy policy states: “Facebook also collects information about you from other sources, such as newspapers and instant messaging services. This information is gathered regardless of your use of the Web Site.”

Another theory is that Facebook could also be a data-gathering project or if not, used extensively for these purposes. Facebook’s policy also states that it “may share your information with third parties, including responsible companies with which we have a relationship”.

You can learn more about Facebook and register here. Be careful - Facebook can be addictive!