One way to describe the Facebook phenomenon is through people describing the valuable social connections made through the site:
“I left right after I graduated and haven’t been back to my home state over the years. I often wondered what my classmates were up to, who was doing what, how does so and so look. How I wished I could hook back up with them. I got on FB and have reconnected with my classmates, and it feels so good that FB allowed me to reconnect with people I spent the better part of my years growing up with. THANKS FB.”
“My daughter died in a car crash two years ago. The day after she died a friend of hers set up a page in her memory. It helped us in our grief, and it was nice to be able to look at all the comments, memories, and photos that her friends posted. We even found out things about her personality that we didn’t know before.”
“When the earthquake destroyed part of the country, our girls were saved and taken to safety by a complete stranger who I found on Facebook. These girls were missing for over a month. I had no contact in that city and went to work making connections on Facebook with people around the world who were working there. I sent photos via Facebook, and I got a call saying the girls were found. They were sick, alone, hungry but ALIVE!”
—From Facebook Stories
You may have heard about Facebook starting as a site used by US college students. They would browse an online facebook or published biography with pictures of the student body to read about and contact each other.
Now, Facebook is a virtual world that’s grown to hundreds of millions of users. Facebook Stories show one side of why people continue to use its network—for fun and potentially meaningful connections with like-minded people.
People are bringing parts of their lives online by connecting and sharing with family, friends, loved ones, and those with similar interests, businesses, or causes. Within this community, there are probably several potentially meaningful and valuable connections for you.
Of course, posting details of your life online can have a downside. Privacy is a concern for many people on Facebook. Chapter 6, “Safeguarding Your Information on Facebook,” covers how to protect your Facebook information so it’s not misused.
However, if you can’t wait to sign up, you can get started immediately by reading Chapter 2, “Setting Up Your Facebook Account and Profile.”
Facebook caters to personal and business interests. People use the website to keep in touch with friends and family, join groups, post pictures and videos, share music, chat, create events, submit comments to their profile from their mobile device, shop for goods, play games, develop applications, promote charities, and find jobs.
Despite all of these choices, the central theme for Facebook is finding and maintaining valuable social relationships. Here’s a final Facebook Story with a perspective on the Facebook phenomena:
“When I was child, I made friends by becoming ‘pen pals.’ I’d write a letter, lick a stamp, and then wait for a reply. Sometimes another person would respond in place of who I wrote to! Now, I don’t have to wait (and I know who’s responding). I connect with from friends all over the world. Facebook has opened a whole new world to me as an author—the wonderful world of writers. Thanks, Facebook!”
To read more, click Using Facebook: The Facebook Phenomenon
How to get huge amounts of niche-targeted Facebook friends quickly.