Facebook Phenomenon

Facebooking

In February, 2004 a new phenomenon began; it was called Facebook. Since then it has had more than 58 million active members, number of members doubling every six months and each member logging in for an average time of twenty minutes. Basically, Facebook is a social networking website made for students. It has now been so popular that the first thing college students do after checking their email is to log into their Facebook account because they will have at least some emails from Facebook, if they have not disabled the automatic email feature. When you get in, there is no way out until you check all your friends' latest photos and comments on your wall. You might just start "Biting Chumps" with is an invitation for you to become a virtual Vampire, Zombie, Werewolf, Pirate, Ninja, Jedi or Sith. It is pretty complicated but I am sure at least 58 million people could directly relate to it. After an hour or so, you realize you have a research paper due tomorrow and regret about the time you wasted on Facebook. I believe Facebook is more than just for social networking. It is a means of connecting people and defining yourself. Due to Facebook's newly established booming identity, it is not just surfing the Internet anymore, it is "Facebooking".

Facebook has started a common culture among students. Nowadays, Facebook friends are nearly as good as friends in flesh. You go around your college and smile at people you recognize from Facebook. Which is one of the reasons for its rise in popularity. College life is a radical social transition from high school which makes it unclear for for the students. Facebook allows these students to meet thousands of other people in the same situation. I believe which is why students are eager to make Facebook accounts as a way to get connected with their new college community. It is easy to strike a conversation with someone about whom you know every information from zodiac sign to favorite movies.

The most common use of Facebook is for social networking. Days when you had to advertise for a party using fliers are over. If you missed it because no one told you about it, it is your fault; it was on Facebook. And people will not even feel guilty about not informing you in person. It is also a common method to talk about interesting things that happened in college. Once you check friends that are on-line you can start a conversation that might have taken place on phone or rather on person. You could discuss about class or just strike jokes. And the best thing is, you have lots of time to respond so you can think of million ways to make your response humorous or classy.

It is absolutely normal for college students to spend so much time on Facebook. It is a way out from the hectic college life into the "world of Facebook". It has become something for fun rather than studying- a new method for "time-pass". You can spend hours at it and not know about it. May be people used to watch movies or listen to music during such free time but now they "Facebook".

One of the reasons for the popularity of Facebook has to do with all the features on it. There are so many applications and groups and discussion topics that you feel that you are involved in something important. It seems as you are expressing yourself and not just wasting your time. For example if a Nepali is to come across a group called "Gautam Buddha was born in Nepal, not India" than it is sure to interest him because he has seen the site in Nepal were Buddha was born and has also heard ignorant people say that he was born in India. By joining the group he seems to have made a stance. He will not leave without leaving a comment on the "group wall" about his encounters on the subject after joining the group. And doing so makes him feel like being a part of something that is contributing for a cause.

One of the other causes for increasing popularity of Facebook is because it lets you get connected with your old friends from high school. People have many good friends in high school and Facebook is an excellent medium to get to know about what is going on in their lives. Facebook will let you know if they had a party because you will see a new uploaded photo album and then you can go on commenting on all the photos and then continue discussing the good old days you had.

Due to its phenomenal use it has now turned into a means to advertise yourself. And I believe it is one of the most important cause for such exponential growth of Facebook users. Everything on Facebook is rather public. It is interesting to see how people share such private information as their birth dates, cell phone numbers and addresses on Facebook. And even the conversation you had with your friend is public. I believe the most important reason for this is because everyone is screaming to get recognized and Facebook provides a platform for it. Facebook is no longer just for social networking. It is a way of advertising your self in your world. You could advertise about your "Relationship Status", or your political or musical views. There are certain features such as "status" and "mood" which are used specially for this reason which allows other people to know how you are feeling. It is a easy way to let others know about what kind of a person you really are. And since there are millions of other people that are Facebooking, you are sure to be seen.

Nonetheless Facebook has been a major phenomenon for college students. Its creator Mark Zuckerberg has become the youngest billionaire. This reflects the grandeur that Facebook has turned into. Whether the students call it social networking, "time pass", self advertisement, or a waste of time, it seems that Facebooking is to be for a long period of time.

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